Hybrid Theory
by Saiku Tenshi
Summary: After a long time....the next chapters up!! WHEEE!! Enjoy, if you are still reading along! Jason's helping Devi to escape!? Will she be able to escape after someone finds out that she's missing?
1. Prologue

*is chanting* I do not own Trigun. I do not own Trigun. I do not own Trigun. *screams* WHY NOT!!!!??? Because I wasn't the one who thought of it, only this fic and the charrys I create. And my doctor said I should say "I do not own Trigun" at least 100 times a day.^^. And I'm sorry to everyone who came to this fic before, I was going to fixed it but ff.net had to go in meltdown mode on me. *whacks FF.net with her softball bat* And now its fixed and this is the completed version of what I put up in the beginning. Please R & R! Key: "a": speaking a: thinking ____________________________________________________  
  
Prologue  
  
A couple walked though the desert, fighing against the wind and the sand that it blew. The woman held close a baby that was fast asleep from its crying. They were forced to move from the last town that they lived in because they couldn't pay for their bills and they weren't about to give up their only daughter and child if they were to go into jail.  
  
The man leaned close to his wife. "We have to find shelter."  
  
She nodded. "I know."  
  
Through the blowing sands, the man saw a building up ahead. He pointed it out to his wife and trudgingly, they reached the buildling. The door was locked and it didn't seem that no one was there. They leaned against the door and tried to shield themselves from the wind.  
  
"I'm starving and the baby's going to starve too if we don't find anything to eat," the woman stated.  
  
Her husband rubbed her back comfortingly. "I know, dear. I know. Maybe we should try to get some rest now that we are out of the winds."  
  
She sighed. "Alright."  
  
They huddled together and kept the baby covered from the sands. They fell asleep near each other and during their sleep, they sufficated and died from the sands. The baby was still safe under the covers.  
  
After the storm was over, a scientist pulled up to the building and walked up to see the couple against the door. The scientist leaned close to the couple and saw that they were dead. When he pulled back he heard a soft groan and then the crying of a child. Startled, he looked at the couple until he saw movement under a blanket that the woman was holding.  
  
Carefully, he took the blanket off to reveil a baby in the woman's arms. The baby was crying and kicking about. He gently picked the baby. It was a girl with brilliant blue eyes and brownish-red hair. He smiled to himself more than to the baby.  
  
She'll make a perfect specimen for our project. With that thought, he entered the building, leaving the dead couple outside.  
  
*****  
  
"How's the set-up coming on?" Dr. Locheski asked the people around him.  
  
"Alteration capsule's ready, we just need the specimen and the DNA samples," one of the doctors called out.  
  
"What about the specimen?"  
  
One of the helpers come out then, holding the child in her arms. "Fast asleep, and ready for preparations."  
  
Dr. Locheski nodded. "Alright, let's get started."  
  
He walked over to a cabinet and chose three different DNA samples. All were in a clear cylinder and had a green goey liquid inside. This were the DNA samples. Each one was labeled what DNA was in it. One had 'poisonous desert spider,' another 'sand tiger,' and the third had 'plant' on it. The plant DNA is from the bulb-like structure that was in a nearby town. The scientists knew that there was something alive in the bulb, and were especially surprised that they were able to get a DNA sample of it. The doctor took the cylinders and placed them in the slots right above the alteration capsule.  
  
The other doctors were quickly preparing the specimen, the baby, for the experiment. The baby was going to be placed in the capsule with various tubes that go into the body, one of them even at the base of the skull for the brain. They had to be very careful, one slip and it would cost them the whole experiment, maybe even the life of the baby. Once the baby was placed in the capsule, they would fill it with a protein nutrient liquid that would be able to keep the child healthy and help it with the alterations, if any happen.  
  
The doctors worked together to put the sleeping child into the capsule. The child was so small compared to the capsule, but it would need room to grow while its in the capsule. After the hook-ups between the child's tubes and the DNA samples were secure, someone pressed a button allowing a glass cover to seal and a purplish-blue liquid filled the capsule and surrounded the child.  
  
Dr. Locheski peered through the glass as it finished filling up. "Six months," he said. "Six months and we'll see if DNA atleration can be done to humans."  
  
____________________________________________________  
  
Hmm....this one seems a bit better than the first one I posted. Well...what did you think? R&R so I know!! ^^ Love and peace!! 


	2. Escape to Freedom

Like I've said over a hundred times already: I DO NOT OWN TRIGUN!! But I wish I did. Anyhoo...what I do own is this fic idea and the charrys created for it. YAY! I go chappy one up! Enjoy! ^^. And please R & R! Key: "a": speaking a: thinking ____________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 1: Escape to Freedom  
  
She sat in a white, pristine cell, looking out the only barred window in it. The light casted from the three moons shine through and caressed the features of her face, including her slitted eyes. Her long brown hair reached just over mid-back and was braided loosly. Some of the strands of her hair framed her face and some was tucked behind her slightly pointed ears, which have tufts of dark hair at the point.  
  
She sighed. Only one more to go, then I'm so out of here.  
  
She looked down at her right ankle and read the number on the ID band for the millionth time. It read 5201, her ID number and the only thing that she's called by. It was also tatooed on the back of her right shoulder, which was covered by the white pajama top. 5201 moved her white pajama pant leg to cover her band.  
  
5201 stretched out on the bed that she was sitting on. Her legs stuck off the end a good foot and a half, for she was seven feet three inches.  
  
To explain the abnormality of her obvious unhuman characteristics, 5201 is a genetic experiment. She never had a family to love and care for her, only the scientists that kept her locked up and allowed her out only to do tests on her. The scientists altered her DNA by deleting some of her original DNA and adding in the DNA parts of three different species. One being of a wild sand tiger, that changed the shape of her pupils and instead of having nails on her fingers, there were slits that allowed a cat- like claw to come out whenever she needed it. This DNA also made her jumping ability twice as good as a normal human and her canine teeth being slightly larger than of a human. The second DNA was that of a venemous spider, she didn't gain the poisonous venom, but the quick movement and being able to climb up walls. The third and final DNA added was that of the power-giving plants, somehow they got some of the plant's DNA and wanted to test it on a human. They hypothesized that it was the plant DNA that gave her the endurance, speed, strength and most obvious, her height.  
  
But this is all for a reson, to try to create a being that is capable of destroying or capturing Vash the Stampede. They never mentioned when they are going to actually let this being, in other words her, out to do what she is made for. She got tired and she wanted her freedom and she was going to get that tonight.  
  
She sat back up as she heard the sound of a vehicle. Looking out her barred-window, she saw the last scientist leave the facility. Finally, the only people here are the guards, she thought. And they'd never expect me to do what I'm about to do. 5201 stood, revealing her tall frame and thinness. She was this tall since she was about 2 years old, and was walking and talking when she was about one. The scientists were astonished at this phenomenon and kept trying to figure out what could have allowed her to be this tall.  
  
5201 didn't waste much time to stretch, she padded over to the door, which was made out of iron bars. She took out a bobby pin from her hair, which allowed a lock of it that wouldn't stay in her braid to fall into her face. Easily picking the door open, 5201 waited for a moment, then left her cell and the area that her cell was in.  
  
Padding down the hall, she came up to a supply closet. There, she found a pair of shoes that'll last the trip to the next closest town, a pack and some foods stuff. She placed some food into her pack. Standing up, she realized that she is going to need some money to get a lot of new things, clothes, boots, maybe even a gun. 5201 knew exactly where to go. She walked away from the closet and to the vault where the scientists kept the money that people gave them to do certian projects. She never quite understood why there was a vault in a science research facility, but she never questioned it.  
  
The vault door had a combination lock on it. She closed her eyes to remember the day she followed one of the scientist to the vault through the air vents at night. Remembering the combination, she moved the dial to the right numbers and opened the door. 5201 grabbed a pile of money and shoved it into her pack. She closed the door again and headed for the garage area.  
  
In the garage area, there was a lot of space left from the scientists that left to go home. But there was a special area for vehicles that have been created by the scientists to try to 'save the environment.' One of the vehicles was a motorcycle. It was a dark, ugly green color, but it was a sportster type. 5201 liked it, but it definately needed a paint job when she reaches the next town.  
  
Walking over to the motorcycle, never noticing the little red beam for security purposes as she walked right through it. She gasped as the alarm went off, alerting the guards to her presence. Quickly, she placed her pack in one of the saddlebags on the bike and turned it on since the key was in the ignition. Gaurds appeared at the exits as she blasted out of the parking spot the bike was in. Swerving by the guards, she passed them with ease, hit the sand and was off into the night. The guards followed a few steps, but stopped to fire their guns at her in the night.  
  
One of the guards ordered the others to stop firing.  
  
"Someone get a hold of Dr. Locheski, his experiment escaped."  
  
*****  
  
Freedom, she enjoyed the feel of it as the air brushed against her cheeks and through her hair on the motorcycle. 5201 left those guards in the dust. And for once in her life, she won't have to worry about what those scientists want with her any more. She left out a whoop of joy, only to have to quickly regain control over the motorcylce.  
  
She was glad for one of the genetic alterations. With the DNA from the sand tiger, she was able to see well in the dark. She blinked her cat- like eyes against the wind as she shifted gears on the motorcycle and continued to drive into the night. 


	3. Breaking News:In Town

*is sitting in her swivel chair "singing" to self while staring at space* I do not own Trigun, but I wish I did....*realizes the people are here and are looking at her* *blink blink* eh-hehe....hello!! As you probably just heard me singing, I....don't...own....Trigun....unfortunately. The only thing of Trigun I do own are-*goes to count*- THREE DVDs. Wow....*watches sarcasm meter explode and sweatdrops* Oh well, we can't have it all. What I DO own-besides the DVDs- is this fic and the charrys that aren't from Trigun originally. Oh and thank you to the people who reveiwed. I LOVE YOU!!...not really. ^^() Please keep up the reviews. I just LOVE reveiws!  
  
Key: "a":speaking a:thinking _______________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 2: Breaking News/ In Town  
  
It was late night when Dr. Locheski was awoken by some of the guards from the science facility. Dr. Locheski was a chubby man for his height and age. He has gray, thinning hair that he doesn't even try to comb over. His spectacles lay on his nose in front of his dark-colored eyes. For it being so late in the evening, he was wearing a bathrobe over his pajamas.  
  
He yawned as he walked over to the door. Who could be here at this time of night. Dr. Locheski stopped in front of the door to open it to see the night shift leader there, along with two guards. He blinked in surprise. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"  
  
The guards helped themselves into the doctor's home. "We are here because your experiment escaped."  
  
Dr. Locheski's brow furrowed. "You don't mean the genetic prototype IDed as 5201?"  
  
The leader nodded. "Yes, sir. It escaped about a good hour ago. 5201 took the Type A-2 all-terrain motorcycle, some food, and about $$2,500 from the vault."  
  
The doctor slowly turned toward the leader with a slight look of shock. "The money we can replace, and the food, but the motorcycle will be the hardest to replace. And we can't destroy it."  
  
"Why not, sir," one of the leader's compainions asked.  
  
"Because that motorcycle is made out of a special metal alloy that is indestructable," Dr. Locheski explained. "The only thing you can destroy are the tires."  
  
"Oh," the guard said.  
  
"Sir," the leader stepped forward to speak. "I suggest that we get Captain Logan Exsony and get some men to do a search of some of the nearby town. The more people searching, the more faster we can it."  
  
Dr. Locheski nodded in agreement, then ordered. "Send word to the printer's of the closest towns of this and have a bounty of $$100 billion for it and the motorcycle. Alive and in one peice, its important to us."  
  
The leader of the trio nodded. "Yes, sir."  
  
*****  
  
Meryl Stryfe sat at the table with the paper in her hand. She had her close friend and partner, Milly Thompson, to her left, and the notorious outlaw known as Vash the Stampede to her right. The news was always depressing, some new death or a runaway. The best part of the paper were of course the funnies, but Vash had them in his hands, chuckling over something funny that he just read.  
  
Meryl took a sip of her coffee before turning the page to see something very interesting. She read through it quickly before speaking up.  
  
"Hey, look at this you guys." She set the paper down on the table, showing them what she just read. Then started to read aloud. " 'Last night, a genetic experiment escaped from the Gunsmoke Science Facility taking with it a motorcycle and $$2,500 in cash. It is considered dangerous and now has a bounty of $$100 billion for it alive and for the motorcycle. It is described as being very tall and having long, brown hair.' "  
  
Vash was surprised at the price of the bounty. "Woah! That's a lot of money. They must want it back pretty badly for that price. Especailly since its higher than MY bounty."  
  
"Yeah, and it didn't do any harm to anyone," Milly stated while she finished reading the article over Meryl's shoulder.  
  
"Well, I suggest that don't get in the middle of this and let the proper authorities handle this," Meryl suggested and she took another sip of her coffee.  
  
Vash sighed as he took a gulp out of his mug of coffee. "Now you're being no fun, Meryl."  
  
"Plus, you wouldn't be helping the situation any by getting in the way, Vash."  
  
He sighed again as he muttered something about Meryl still being no fun and he returned his attention to the funnies that he was reading earlier.  
  
*****  
  
5201 reached the next closest town, figuring that the facility would have people searching for her in some of the closer towns, by daybreak and quickly searched for a body shop. Finding one, she stopped in front of the shop and knocked on the door. A moment later, an older gentleman wearing a pair of dirty overalls answered the door. He was much shorter than she was and his hair was slightly greasy and mussed up.  
  
"May I help you missy," the man scanned her up and down as he asked the question. His voice deep and leaning towards the raspy side.  
  
"Yes," she stated cooly, ignoring the fact that the man was checking her out. "Do you do paint jobs on motorcycles?"  
  
The man nodded. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
5201 gestured to the motorcycle behind her. "I want that to be painted jet black by morning, can you handle that?"  
  
"Hmm....jet black? Sure, no problem."  
  
She nodded. "I'll be back in the morning to pick it up, I'll pay then also."  
  
As soon as she saw the man nod again, she turned, grabbed her pack from the motorcycle and started to walk down the street. She looked around until she found a clothing store and she entered. The saleslady here was, yet again, shorter than her, but was thin and had shoulder length blonde hair. The saleslady's smile seemed to brightened the room up a bit.  
  
"May I help you?" Her voice was light and cheery, just like her face and looks.  
  
5201 shook her head slightly. "No, I'm just.....looking."  
  
The saleslady nodded her head slightly. "I'll just be at the counter if you have any questions."  
  
She nodded slightly to the lady and the lady turned away and went behind the counter. 5201 sighed and walked in the opposite direction, readjusting the shoulder strap on her pack onto her shoulder more. She walked down the aisles at the various clothing selections avaiable to her. Her eyes scanned over everything until she saw a black sleeveless unitard. Nearby, 5201 saw a black trench coat. She smiled to herself. Black goes well with the darkness, making it easy to slip away into the night, she thought. She found the biggest sizes that could fit her and paid for them. She also saw some other items that she would possibly need, like a hair brush and hair ties. The last item she picked up was a pair of black gloves.  
  
As 5201 paid for her items, she could see that the lady was trying not to stare at her hands, since they were missing nails that humans would normally have them. The lady smiled again and pretended that she was just seeing things, such as people not having any fingernails, as 5201 left the store.  
  
She stood in the street for a moment. Hmmm....what's next? 5201 scanned the nearby stores until she saw two in a row that she knew she had to go: a boot store and a gun shop. 5201 entered the boot store first and got a pair of boots to replace the shoes that she got from the facility.  
  
In the gun shop, there was guns all along the walls. All of them of varying shades of gray, from black to silver. She casually walked over to a part of the wall that had many Long Colts. She started to examine one when the storekeeper appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"Now that's a good peice of equiptment there, missy."  
  
The storekeeper speaking made her jump slightly. But she quickly recovered. "What kind is it?"  
  
The storekeeper picked up a silver gun with a black handle. "This is a .45 Long Colt Magnum Peacemaker. Powerful peice of work, very handy too."  
  
She nodded before looking back at the Long Colts again. 5201 saw a .45 Long Colt Magnum. The storekeeper apparently followed her gaze because he stated, "Now that .45 Long Colt Magnum is rumored to be the type of gun that the outlaw Vash the Stampede uses. But most of those are rumors."  
  
She nodded before turning her attention back to the storekeeper. "Is there any place where I can practice and see how well this gun shoots?"  
  
"Why, of course, missy. Just follow me."  
  
The storekeeper headed towards the back with the Peacemaker in his hand. He grabbed some bullets before exiting through a door to reveal a shooting lane. The storekeeper loaded up the gun and handed her it.  
  
"Give it a whirl, missy."  
  
5201 raised the gun and took careful aim before shooting it. She shot the gun a few times before being satisfied with its power.  
  
"I like it," she stated plainly. "I'll take it."  
  
The storekeeper grinned and they both went back into the store so 5201 can purchase the gun, a holster and ammunition.  
  
After leaving the gun shop satisfied, she spotted an inn. I wouldn't mind getting out of these clothes before I handle the last of my business. She walked over to the inn and quickly made sure that her ears were covered by her hair that came out of her braid last night before entering. 5201 carried her pack and her newly bought clothing over to the bar to ask if there was a room available. The barkeep gave her the key to her room, hesitating a moment when he saw her hands.  
  
In her room, she got out of the clothing that she wore when she escaped and entered the shower that was attached to her room. When she came out, 5201 toweled herself off and studied herself. In her mind, she was comparing her appearance to that of "normal" humans. She sighed. It was humans that made me this way, but not these humans that I am interacting with. They only look at me like I'm a freak, which I am, unfortunately.  
  
5201 changed into her new outfit and boots before leaving again, taking the clothes that she had with her with her to throw them away.  
  
*****  
  
Meryl and Vash looked up at the door as a tall woman walked in. Her hair was as long as Milly's, maybe longer, but was knoted and tangled while part of it was still pulled back. She carried a few bags and a pack on her back. Vash didn't think that Meryl noticed, but the woman's eyes were much different than human eyes. They looked more cat-like than what they should.  
  
"Well, that's interesting to see someone come in for a room at this time of day, normally people are checking out," Meryl stated.  
  
Vash watched the woman interact with the barkeep and noticed her slight discomfort when the barkeep hesitated on giving her the key because of what her hand looked like. "Something's different about her."  
  
Meryl rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed. "What? She just looks like a normal woman to me."  
  
Vash stayed quiet, he didn't want to talk about his suspisions, especially since he feels that this one might be right.  
  
After a while, he sat up as she came back down, wearing all black. Her trenchcoat was buttoned up, but what he saw of her legs was that she was wearing black tights of some sort. This time, her hair was pulled back into a braid and yet it still covered her ears. In her hand was obviously the clothing that she wore when she first entered the inn. Her hands were now covered by a pair of black gloves. He watched her walk across the room and exit the inn. Hmm...maybe there is something quite different about her.  
  
*****  
  
5201 threw the clothing that she wore when she first got here into the closest trash can. She walked down the street some until she spotted the last destination for the time being, a tatoo parlor.  
  
Maybe they will know how to get rid of tatoos without surgury, she thought as she stepped onto the porch of the parlor and entered. Inside, she found a fairly muscular man that was covered in tatoos and a small, yet tough looking woman that had tatoos in various places.  
  
The man walked up to her and offered her his hand to shake, looking up at her to see her face. "Good morning, ma'am. How may I be of service?"  
  
She gave the man a gloved hand and shook it. His grip was firm and strong as she matched it as to not to hurt him or he hurt her. Then she unconsciously scratched her cheek for only a second. "Yes, I was wondering if you know anyway to get rid of tatoos, besides surgury."  
  
"Of course, I get a few of those people who want to get rid of an old tatoo and I sell them a special gel that will soak into the skin and get rid all the ink that has imbedded itself in the skin from over the years," he explained. Then called out, "Hey, Tootsie! Get this young lady here a bottle of the removal gel."  
  
Tootsie quickly nodded and went into the back room. She came back out with a white bottle and walked over to her and the man.  
  
"You just put that on the tatoo once a day, and be sure to cover it also," the man explained. Then added, "Hey, what's up with your eyes?"  
  
5201 was looking at the gel when she looked up. "Huh?"  
  
"Your eyes," the man stated. "They are cool and cat-like."  
  
"Oh," she said, surprise. "Umm...I have...contacts that make them that way." 5201 noticed a sunglass rack and picked up a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses. "I'll get these also."  
  
She paid for her gel and sunglasses and then left the parlor, putting on her new pair of sunglases and went back to the inn. At the inn, she sat in her room and put the gel on her shoulder the best she could and then covered it with a bandage she found in the bathroom. She made a mental note to go to a general store and pick up bandages and such before leaving.  
  
5201 yawned and revealed fanged teeth that were the easiest to keep hidden. Oi, maybe I should get some sleep, it'll do me some good.  
  
She laid herself on her bed in her unitard, curled into a ball and fell fast asleep, purring like a little kitten would.  
  
____________________________________________________  
  
There you go, chapter 2. I know it was long and probably boring, but in some ways important. And I did tell you that the Trigun characters were going to appear in this chapter. R&R!! 


	4. Twilight

Hmmm....If I owned the world....I would own...*counts off with her fingers*..Trigun....the internet...*jumps up on table and points at her computer screen* and ALL YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE!!! *evil laugh* MUAHAHAHAHA!!! I OWN THE WORLD!!! AND TRIGUN!!!  
  
Doctor: *whacks RedCoatedOutlaw(RCO) with a chair*  
  
RCO: @.@ *shakes head* whew..thanks Doc...I was loosing it again wasn't I?  
  
Doctor: Dearie, you lost it a long time ago.  
  
RCO: ^^. I know. *looks at the people staring at her* *sweatdrops* heh- Sorry about that everyone. I do NOT own Trigun, or the world for that matter, OR the internet, OR anyone here. I hope you are enjoying this fic....of course you are, why else are you here?  
  
Vash: Because they are bored?  
  
RCO: *glares at Vash* Quiet you....Anyhoo, here's chapter three. P.S. Thanks to all that have reveiwed! The more I get, the happier I get so keeo them coming! LOVE AND PEACE!!  
  
Vash: LOVE AND PEACE!!  
  
Doctor: ^^() _______________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 3: Twilight  
  
5201 woke up and saw that the double suns were starting to set. She realized that she was hungry when the sweet, tantalizing scent of food reached her nose. Making sure her hair was covering her ears, she got her gloves on and grabbed her trench coat and swung that over her shoulders and stuck her arms into the sleeves. Making her way down to the saloon, 5201 didn't even bother to button up her trench coat as she walked down the hallway and the stairs.  
  
As she came down the stairs, 5201 could see most of the men staring at her. A few even were daring enough to make a few catcalls. 5201 allowed a small smile come to her face to mask her slight discomfort to the attention. What she was surprised about was that they noticed her, dispite the silence of her steps. She settled herself down at the bar and looked at the sign above the alcohol for something to eat.  
  
The bartender came over as he was wiping off a glass. "So, what'll be, miss?"  
  
"Hmm..." She read over the selection. "I'll have the.....spaghetti please."  
  
"Alright." The bartender disappeared into the back, then came back. "Anything to drink?"  
  
"Sure, I'll have a shot of whiskey."  
  
The bartender nodded, then gave her what she ordered. 5201 took the whole shot into her mouth and quickly swallowed. She wasn't used to alcohol and she tried to stifle a cough, but was unsuccessful.  
  
She saw a man slip onto the bar stool beside her. 5201 had to make herself not wrinkle her nose for the man's scent mainly consisted of sweat and alcohol, even though the whiskey that she was drinking didn't smell that great either, but it was better than the man.  
  
Someone shouted from the back room that food was done and the bartender went and came back with her spaghetti. 5201 took a deep breath and almost melted from the scent of the spaghetti, especially the scent of the spices. Taking the fork, she dug in the food and enjoyed every bite of her meal.  
  
The man next to her placed a hand on her arm. He leaned in a bit closer as he spoke. "So, how about you and me go have some fun?"  
  
*****  
  
Vash looked up when he some catcalls come out of no where. His bottom jaw dropped and he blinked several times. He watched the girl from earlier come down the stairs. Her trench coat was unbuttoned and revealed a well built body, but it was also very thin. On her right thigh, Vash could see a holster that held a silver gun, of what make he couldn't really tell. His eyes followed her until she sat down at the bar. Vash turned away and he went back to his meal before Meryl and Milly came and see him gawking at the girl.  
  
Watching her, Vash noticed something different than from the other people in town. The way she moved especially, it was fluid and graceful. She was silent when she walked, unlike some people who make themselves heard when they walked. It was as though she preferred to be silent and invisible to the crowd.  
  
Just then Meryl and Milly came over. Vash looked up as he heard their footsteps heading in his direction. Meryl noticed the girl at the bar and some guy sitting next to her. She sat down with a huff.  
  
"Well, I see that she finally decided to come down."  
  
"She was probably hungry," Milly stated the obvious as behind her the bartender came out with a plate of spaghetti and placed it in front of the girl.  
  
Vash and Meryl sweatdropped.  
  
"That's kinda obvious, Milly," Vash responded.  
  
Milly beamed as Meryl commented, "Looks like someone is going to have some trouble."  
  
*****  
  
5201 looked at the man's hand for a moment before answering. "I don't think so."  
  
The man's grip got a tad bit tighter. "Aww...why not, baby? I promise I won't hurt you."  
  
She tried her best to keep her cool as she brought her other hand over and placed it on his arm. "I don't think that you got the message: I don't think so, which translates into a 'no', so if you'll just leave me alone now, I won't have to hurt you."  
  
He still didn't get the picture as he leaned in closer. "Come on, I promise that you'll have fun, too."  
  
That was it. 5201 was annoyed that this man just couldn't get it. She tightened her grip suddenly and her claws sank deep into his arm. She continued by lifting the man's arm off hers and pushing it back to its rightful owner. The force of the push was harder than she anticipated and the man fell off his stool.  
  
Rage settled into the man's eyes as he stood. "Why you little-"  
  
He was about to punch 5201 when the bartender butted in. "Hey! No fighting in my saloon as long as I'm here!"  
  
The man stopped himself. "Fine," he muttered, then turned back to 5201. "Let's settle this outside."  
  
5201 gave the man a small nod as the man turned and headed for the door. "Alright."  
  
She followed him silently, pulling off her trench coat along the way. 5201 saw a blonde, spikey-hair man wearing a red trench coat sitting with two women. One a dark-haired woman wearing mostly white and the other a brown-haired one who was smiling. She stopped by the blonde. "Can you hold this for me until I come back?"  
  
The blonde man faced her and scanned her up and down. The woman wearing white rolled her eyes. "Sure, I'll hold it for you as long as you promise not to kill him."  
  
She gave the man a cool, confident smile as she handed him her trench coat. "Thank you and I promise."  
  
*****  
  
Vash watched the girl leave the saloon. He then stood and follwed the crowd out to the dimly lighted street. Right behind Vash was Milly and Meryl. He was able to sneak away from the two and he came close to a group of men who were placing bets on the two fighters. Most of them were saying that the man would whip the girl's butt, but Vash sure didn't think so.  
  
He leaned towards the group. "I'll place $$200 on the girl."  
  
A short man looked at Vash oddly. "You're crazy."  
  
Vash smiled. "Fine then, I'll say $$5000 on the girl and that the man doesn't even land a punch on her AND that she doesn't kill him."  
  
"Hey, its your money."  
  
Vash nodded and turned his attention back to the fight that was about to commence.  
  
*****  
  
5201 sighed as the people gathered around. I can't believe that I am going through with this. I coulda ended this in the bar. No, I shoulda ended it in the bar, then no one could suspect me of being the runaway experiment.  
  
The man stood at the other end. "What's the matter? Afraid that I'll beat your butt?"  
  
"Not a chance." She smirked. But there's no backing down now.  
  
"Then let's get this over with." The man ran towards her with a fist raised for the first punch of the fight.  
  
5201 was ready for it as she guided the punch past her by walking her hands up his arm and giving a slight push towards the crowd. Right away, the crowd was shouting words of encouragement.  
  
She knew she had the advantage with her perfect night vision. She watched as her opponent staggered a few steps away from her and turned to face her. 5201 could see the look of drunken frustration on the man's face. He charged at her once more, using the same attack he used the last time. This time, she blocked and punched the man in the gut.  
  
Being slightly drunk, the man was semi-dazed to the pain as he strightened up. Everyone in the crowd was still cheering them on, some of them quickly changed sides to cheer 5201 on and kill the guy. She didn't want to kill him.  
  
The guy charged at her. 5201 shook her head, she thought as the guy came towards her, You can do it once, you can can do it twice... She blocked his punch again, this time wrapping her arm around his and knocking him to the ground. The crowd went wild once again. But you never do for a third time.  
  
He landed with a thud and dust came from the sandy street. She turned to walk away, but he had other things in mind. He grabbed her ankle and yanked as she was about to step. 5201 landed in the sand face first. She took the time to spit whatever sand she can get out of her mouth, before rolling onto her back.  
  
5201 had made a mistake, she had underestimated him on how fast he was. The guy was already on his feet, at her one side and was about to kick her in the ribs. But he had underestimated her. As he pulled his leg back for the first kick, 5201 kicked her legs up and she stood on her hands as she kicked the guy in the head, knocking him out before he even landed.  
  
The crowd went wild once more, at least the half that was drunk did. The other half became suddenly quiet with shock at the maneuver 5201 just did. 5201 brought her feet down and stood, looking out at the crowd.  
  
Someone from the crowd came up to the unconscious man and said that he was alive. The crowd that wasn't cheering was mummering, 5201 noticed this and looked at some of the looks of the people. Most were suspicious, others cringed when she looked at them in the eyes. She sighed and walked back towards the inn, the people making a path as she walked.  
  
*****  
  
Vash was amazed with the last move that she did. He doesn't even know any one who can stand that easily on their hands, let alone fight like she did . It seemed strange to him that someone is able to fight so agile and not kill the person. I sure don't want to mess with her.  
  
Then he realized that he still had her trench coat as he walked back into the inn. I'll take it to her then. He turned to the gambling group who was staring at him in amazement. Vash smiled.  
  
"I'll take my winnings now."  
  
____________________________________________________  
  
See, all your patience has paid off. So...what do you think? I know, the fight seems kinda short. R&R, please!!! 


	5. White Lies

Disclaimer!! Disclaimer!! I DO NOT...own Trigun. That belongs to Mr. Nightow, the brilliant creator of Trigun. But I do have three DVDs that I mentioned before AND a Kuroneko plushie. Now if they only made one of Vash....  
  
Vash: Dun even think about it!!  
  
RCO: Too late. *turns Vash into plushie and huggles him* Thank you to the people who have been reviewing this fic. You are the bomb!! And here is your reward for reviewing....ANOTHER CHAPTER!! This one might be a bit boring...oh well...its still developing....  
  
Vash plushie: *high-pitch voice* You're rambling...  
  
RCO: OH! Oy...sorry...well...LOVE AND PEACE!! Here's chapter 4!!!  
  
Key: "a"-speaking a-thinking _______________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 4: White Lies  
  
Vash entered the saloon along with the other specators of the rather interesting fight, counting his winnings. He still had the girl's trench coat and she never came by to get it back from him, he'd have to go to her room later. He sat down at the same table that he sat at to begin with.  
  
People started to flow back in, most of them talking about the fight. Some others were theorizing on how the girl got her skills. It was amazing to see a person fight like that. It was as though she just went with the flow and stayed relaxed, making every move to her advantage.  
  
Vash sat down at the table and pocketed the money just as Milly and Meryl came over and sat down. Meryl noticed the money being put in Vash's pocket.  
  
"You disappear from the fight and you come back with money. Where'd you get it," Meryl asked in an annoyed tone as she glared at Vash.  
  
"I made a bet on the fight and won," Vash simply stated.  
  
"How much?"  
  
"$$5000."  
  
"$$5000!! Why in the world did you bet that amount of money?!"  
  
The saloon quickly quieted with Meryl's outburst and turned to see what was happening. Meryl noticed that the attention was brought to them out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"There's nothing to see," Meryl snapped at the people in the saloon, making them quickly turn away. Then she turned back to Vash for his answer.  
  
"I knew she would win," Vash said quietly. "The way she moves is different than how most humans move."  
  
Meryl nodded. "Yeah, right. And I see that you still have her trench coat."  
  
"Yup," Vash stood. "I was actually going to go up to her room to give it to her."  
  
"I'll come with," Meryl stated.  
  
Milly chimed in then out of the blue. "Well, she did move quite differently when she fought than how most people would have. I wonder if she is that genetic experiment that escaped."  
  
Meryl and Vash gave Milly weird looks. "How could that be," Meryl asked. "She looks normal to me."  
  
"Well, you never know," Milly responded back.  
  
They all walked up to the bar and asked the bartender where the girl's room was at. Then they headed up the stairs towards the girl's room.  
  
*****  
  
5201 sat in her room, brushing her hair smooth. On the desk that she sat at was a pair of silver scissors. She was trying to figure out how to cover her ears easier and more comfortable. It got annoying with her hair pressed up against her ear constantly.  
  
5201 then reached for the scissors and headed to the bathroom to look in the mirror for when she starts to cut her hair. She studied herself in the mirror, taking bits of her hair and trying to figure out the length she should cut her hair, or at least the front part so she can cover her ears.  
  
She was about to start cutting her hair when she heard someone knocking on her door. Her eyes went slightly wider in surprise. 5201 set the scissors down and smoothed her hair over her ears before leaving the bathroom.  
  
Exiting the bathroom, she located her gloves and boots and put them on loosely. Just before she opened the door, she sniffed the air to pick up a familiar scent from before, but she just couldn't place a face to it. She wondered who it was though, since it is the very first time that she's ever had visitors.  
  
Carefully, 5201 opened the door to reveal three people. Two of them women, one short, with short, blue-black hair and is wearing all white and the other taller with long brown hair and big blue eyes. The third person was a tall man, but still a good inch short than 5201, she was the tallest out of the group standing there. He has blonde hair that spikes upwards and blue-sea green eyes. He wore a red trench coat much like hers, which ended up reminding her that she left hers somewhere. Then it clicked in her mind, that was what this group of three were here for: to give back her trench coat.  
  
"Hello," 5201 greeted, her voice wavering a little bit, but no one seemed to notice.  
  
The blonde man smiled as he had to look up slightly. "You forgot this." He held out her black trench coat.  
  
"Oh, thank you." She took the trench coat. "Ummm....would you like to come in? I never had visitors before."  
  
5201 stood off to the side to allow the trio in. They entered and made themselve comfortable in her room, either on her bed or in the chairs.  
  
The blonde man spoke up again. "That was some fight. It got me $$5000."  
  
"Really," 5201 said in a questioning tone. "Glad I could do that and keep my promise to you."  
  
He smiled in a friendly way and laughed slightly. "Yeah, I don't like seeing people get killed. Not to mention that just seeing blood gets me a bit queasy."  
  
The two women stayed silent during the whole conversation. The blonde man looked over at them a moment, then spoke. "Hey, I didn't quite catch your name. I'm Vash the Stampede." Then he gestured to to the women, first to the one wearing all white. "And that's Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson. They are usually more talkative than this."  
  
5201 smiled uncomfortably and nodded in their direction. She didn't know any names to use, so instead of just avoiding it she decided to just tell them the truth. They seemed trustworthy enough, especially if they were nice enough to bring back her trench coat. She sighed and diverted her eyesight away from the trio.  
  
"I don't have a name," 5201 said quietly.  
  
Vash blinked, confused. "Huh?"  
  
She faced them then, a tad bit frustrated. " I don't have a name."  
  
Unless, you want to consider a bunch of numbers a name, She thought.  
  
"How is that-" Meryl started to say, but stopped after she realized what 5201 said. "But everyone has a name, even if its a nickname."  
  
5201 turned her back to the group again. "Well....I just don't."  
  
"That's...." Vash tried to find the right word. "Interesting. So just who are you then. Like describe yourself."  
  
She sighed as she decided to sit cross-legged on the floor. "I guess I'm just a lone wanderer. Coming and going from town to town, like the breeze."  
  
"Sounds like Vash," Meryl stated.  
  
Vash turned his head a muttered. "But she doesn't have companions."  
  
5201 smiled at the comment. "Granted I just basically started my travels. I ran away from where I used to be."  
  
"And where you used to be, they didn't give you a name?"  
  
"Nope, not even a nickname."  
  
Milly chimed in with her usual cheeriness. "Then how about we give you one."  
  
5201 shrugged. "Sure."  
  
The three thought for a moment, leaving the room silent. Vash leaned back and thought. Milly and Meryl also thought of names for 5201 to have. Milly was the first one to speak.  
  
"Hey, I know what your name can be." Milly chimed in again, breaking the silence.  
  
"What?" 5201 was anxious. Anything is better than what I have.  
  
"Devi. Its the name of an old friend I had back in grad school, she's tough, yet nice."  
  
5201 smiled, making her eyes sparkle slightly. "Hm...I like it. I'll be named Devi then."  
  
Milly beamed. Then Meryl stood. "We should be going now."  
  
5201, or Devi, gave a short nod. "Alright."  
  
Meryl was the first one to the door, being followed by Vash and Milly. They said their good-byes and left Devi alone. Devi then went back to the bathroom to finish what she was about to start. She was surprised with herself that she was able to avoid the real truth. Devi knew she only told half the truth. At least she got lucky and they didn't press the issue by asking more questions. She probably would have broke down and told them.  
  
Devi sighed, As long as no one figures out what I truly am, I'll be able to leave this town with little problems.  
  
____________________________________________________  
  
Whew! What a LONG chapter((ok..maybe not THAT long))!! And probably boring. Well, I hope you liked it. R&R, PLEASE!!!!! I would just love it if you reviewed!!  
  
Vash: Please, do! She's getting on my nerves!!!!  
  
RCO: *glares at Vash* Quiet you. *huggles her Kuroneko plushie* 


	6. Points of Authority

Another chapter...and look it has a song title from Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory CD. (yes, that is where I got the idea for the title.) Anywho....I dun own Trigun, only the characters that I created and this fic idea. Have fun if you made it this far. R&R!! _________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 5:Points of Authority  
  
The leader of the guards gently knocked on the door Dr. Locheski's office. He was a young man in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. His black hair cut professionally short, it was short enough to spike. His eyes were deep set, sharp and midnight blue with lighter flecks of blue near his pupils. On his face was a scar located under his left eye that started close to the nose and ends at the end of his cheekbone. The uniform he's wearing fits him like a glove, with a few loose areas that allowed him to move.  
  
He stood there for a moment before the doctor opened the door. The doctor knew what the young man was here for and so did the young man. The young man was there to give an update on the runaway experiment. And the update wasn't good.  
  
"Ah....Captain Logan Exsony," Dr. Locheski greeted the young man. "I hope you brought good news."  
  
Captain Exsony sighed and shook his head as the doctor allowed him into the office. "Sorry, sir. We don't have the experiment that escaped."  
  
Dr. Locheski sighed as he sat down behind a wooden desk. "It's still early, so I'm not THAT worried or angry that you don't have it. Have you searched all the towns near the facility?"  
  
The young captain nodded. "Yes, sir. On a 50 iles radius, I've sent teams to each town, making the search a bit quicker."  
  
"And yet you still don't have the experiment."  
  
"No, sir. It's kind of complicated with a very vague discription to go by."  
  
Dr. Locheski nodded as he stood up from behind the desk. "I had a feeling that was part of the problem." He walked over to a filing cabinet, pulled out a drawer, flipped through some of the folders and pulled out one. The doctor gently tossed the folder onto the desk before sitting down. The captain picked up the folder and opened it. Clipped to a stack of papers was a picture, it was of the experiment 5201 on a practice run. It was a good picture, the best one there. It has a good look of what its face looks like, not to mention the build it has, very muscular and lean.  
  
The doctor sat there a moment, looking at Captain Exsony as he flipped through the papers. "Let me tell you something, Captain. That experiment is very important to me. I've had that thing since it was only a baby and it's parents died on the front door of that facility. I've grown sort of attached to it, more as a pet than anything else."  
  
Captain Exsony nodded. "I understand, sir."  
  
"No," Dr. Locheski stated. "No, you don't. The other thing about 5201 is the genetics that I used to altered it to what it is now. Part of it, a wild sand cat; another part, a spider; a third it's true DNA and the last part, a plant. The kind that power most of the towns on this planet. You can read that all in that file there for a more thorough description."  
  
"It's part plant?" Captain Exsony was confused.  
  
"Yes, but it doesn't know how powerful it is. So be careful. Its probably more smarter than it lead us on to be, especially if it was able to escape like this."  
  
"I will be sir," the captain replied with a nod, he bit back a smart- ass remark for the second part that the doctor said.  
  
Dr. Locheski stood again, but this time walked over to a cabinet along the wall. He opened a pulled out a tranquilizer gun and six tranquilizers. "Here, these tranquilizers are strong enough to take 10 men out with one dart. Use them wisely on 5201, I would like to have it alive."  
  
Captain Exsony took the gun. "Thank you and I will."  
  
The doctor responded with a nod. "Just so you know, I will at the main genetics facility that is 150 iles north of December. Report there if you have my experiment by then."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
*****  
  
Devi woke up on the bed after the first of the double suns rose in the sky. She found the bed to be very comfortable, more comfortable than the one she had at the science facility. There, it was stiff and hard and she always woke up stiff and tired. Here, she felt for relaxed and revitalized than before.  
  
She yawned as she climbed out of bed. The tiredness she always gets in the morning at the facility seemed to have followed her here. Must be a natural thing, Devi thought. Changing into her black unitard from her simple pajamas, she started the morning the same way she always did, with some stretches and exercises.  
  
Devi stretched and reached for the ceiling. She did a small jump and allowed the spider part of her DNA kick in as she stuck fast to the ceiling. She relaxed all of her muscles, which she knew would end up popping almost every joint of her body, especailly her spine and shoulders. Pulling her feet to the ceiling, Devi gracefully got off the ceiling with a simple flip.  
  
From there, she reached up and slowly bent backwards into an arch. This helped stretch her quads and abs for a moment before kicking up in the air. She had total control of her body as Devi easily did 15-20 handstand push-ups. Devi tucked her head and rolled silently from her handstand position.  
  
Devi stayed on the floor and did some ab work. She was used to doing this sort of thing everyday in the facility, just before the scientists came. She would warm-up and be ready for whatever tests they threw at her. Most of them were of strength, seeing how much she can lift in one shot. Others were of endurance, how fast she can get from point A to point B. Devi remembered that she excelled very well at these tests. The scientists were very pleased with the results.  
  
After her ab work, Devi went into some stretching, mostly of the legs, then to do some more simple flips. After that part, Devi practiced some kicks and punches. She mainly taught herself when it came to mertial arts, there were some nights when she couldn't sleep and she just taught herself in the end.  
  
When she was done there, Devi went into the bathroom to clean up a bit and fix her hair.  
  
The front part of her hair was cut much shorter than the rest of her hair. It was now able to cover her ears with ease. She did this herself, knowing that if anyone else would do it, they would ask about her ears. Devi washed off her face and braided the longer part of her hair. Then, grabbing her trench coat and gloves and putting her boots on, Devi headed downstairs for breakfast.  
  
*****  
  
Captain Logan Exsony stood at the one edge of town with some of the soldiers that were assigned to him to help with his search. The others were at a different part of the town. He held up a small, hand held box that can be considered "lost technology," even though the box looked a bit on the crude side with a wire that was a good 8-12 inches long coming out of the corner, and the speaker part consisting only of a mesh wire covering. All the wires were hidden inside the box.  
  
"This Alpha Search leader calling to all posts, come over."  
  
There was a blast of static before a response came back. "Alpha Search leader this is Beta leader,we read you, over."  
  
Another static burst, then: "Alpha this is Delta, we read you, over."  
  
Captain Exsony was surprised that this "thing" actually worked. He lifted the box to his face as he spoke again. "You may begin the search. Search every building. This is probably the furtherest 5201 could have gotten too. Make sure you ask the people if they've seen it. Make contact with me when you've spotted it."  
  
Delta was the first to speak. "Alrighty, over and out."  
  
Then Beta responded quite the same. Captian Exsony hopped off the vehicle he was on and started down towards an saloon/inn. If anywhere, 5201 would probably be here.  
  
*****  
  
Devi came down silently and surprised Meryl by coming up behind her and saying, "Good morining." Meryl wasn't pleased, since she spilt coffe all over her front, but Milly and Vash had a good laugh. Vash invited Devi to join them for breakfast. Devi ordered a shortstack of hotcakes before sitting down. Meryl stormed off to change out of her now coffee colored clothing, muttering something about "being worse than Vash."  
  
Vash instantly noticed something. "Hey, you cut your hair, at least part of it."  
  
Devi brought a hand up to the shorter part of her hair. "Yeah."  
  
A waitress brought Devi her shortstack and, after pouring some sweet smelling syrup on, she dug right in. At the same time as she ate, Devi was casually catching the scent of her compainions. Vash had a sweet, leathery aroma, which she figured mostly came from the trenchcoat. Milly's was more innocent and flowery. Meryl came back wearing now all white once more. She had the slight stench of coffee, mixed with perfume and sweat. Devi could tell Meryl works hard at what she does.  
  
Vash spoke up as Devi was a fourth of the way through her meal. "I have a question for you."  
  
"Hmm.." Devi had her mouth full, but she lifted her head to look at Vash.  
  
"Do you want to join us on your travels?"  
  
Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes. Just what she needs, another person to follow.  
  
Devi smiled as she swallowed the sweet tasting, and smelling, pancake. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I'll have to decline. Anyways, I have a feeling we'll be meeting again."  
  
She was about to have another bite when she stopped. A very familiar scent reached her nose. Devi continued to eat, acting as though nothing was wrong when there was. She remembers that scent, it was a recent one she picked up, but not as recent as these events. Then she placed her finger on it, the captian that had a tendency to appear for the night shift of gaurding the facility. She never got a name, but she remembers that he usually walked throughout the facility during the night. The scent got a bit more stronger.  
  
Devi took one more bite before getting up. She gave quick good-byes and walked up to the bar to not only pay for her meal, but for her room and told the man there that she was leaving today. The man nodded in reply and she quickly and silently headed up the stairs.  
  
Vash watched her oddly. When she was out of site, he asked, "I wonder what's wrong with her. She seemed to have started to act strangely all of a sudden."  
  
Meryl huffed,"I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. We better be heading out today too."  
  
*****  
  
Devi reached her room. She told the barkeep that the key would be on the nightstand when he came up. Suddenly feeling a bit frantic, she started to gather her things into a pack. Food, drink, money, gel, hair stuff, clothing, it looked like she had everything that she bought or brought with her. Relaxing herself and telling herself she has time, she started to neatly put her things in the pack.  
  
She took a deep breath and caught the scent of the captain. He was a bit closer than before, she figured he was heading right for here. Let's hope he didn't bring anyone else with.  
  
___________________________________________________  
  
Oooo...cliff hanger!! Dun you just love, and hate, them at the same time? Now you'll have to wait for the next chapter to be posted. Until then, review!! I just LOVE reviews, especially if they are good. Love and peace!! 


	7. Runaway

OY VAY!! I got behind because I literally ran into a REALLY BIG writer's block, more like a writer's wall. But I blasted my way thorugh that and- Voila!- chapter 6 is here for your enjoyment. For those that have been waiting, I'm sorry.  
  
Oh, and I do not own Trigun, only this fic and the characters that are created for it. Enjoy and please reveiw when your done. It makes me feel very happy when you do. Love and Peace!  
  
"A"-speaking; a-thinking  
  
______________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 6: Runaway  
  
Meryl, Milly and Vash finished their breakfast and got ready to leave. Vash kept on wondering what made Devi act so weird all of a sudden. It was as though she knew that something, or someone, was coming and she didn't want to be here when it came.  
  
They were all about to head out the door when a dark-haired man wearing a black outfit entered and half-shoved his way through the trio.  
  
"Hey, why don't-" Meryl started to say, but stopped when Vash placed a hand on her shoulder. Meryl glared at Vash, but Vash just nodded in the direction of the door. With a sigh, Meryl reluctantly walked out the door, followed by Vash and Milly.  
  
What they don't know about the man is that he is Captain Logan Exsony and that he is after Devi, but he knows her as "it" or "5201." Captain Exsony made his way to the bar. His hand slipped into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the photo from the file he received from Dr. Locheski. The barkeep took notice of Exsony and poured him a glass of beer. Exsony placed the picture on the bar and slid it towards the barkeep. "Would you know anything on this person?"  
  
The barkeep picked up the picture and studied it for a moment. "Yes, she actually stayed here for a bit. She's about to leave real soon. Why, is she a relative of yours?"  
  
Exsony allowed a smile to creep across his face in a small victory. She is still here, which means, there is a chance that this small escapade of hers will be cut rather short. "No, she is actually the genetic experiment that escaped about two days ago."  
  
Much to Captain Exsony's surprise, the barkeep knew what he was talking about. "Really? Isn't there a $$100 billion reward for her then?"  
  
Captain Exsony nodded. "Can you tell me what room she's in?"  
  
"As long as I get the reward."  
  
Exsony narrowed his eyes. "You'll get half, and that is IF we cpature her."  
  
"Fine, her room is the second door on the right. You can't miss it."  
  
"Thank you." Captain Exsony took a gulp of his beer, stood at the bar and headed for the stairs, and towards what he thought was a victory.  
  
*****  
  
Devi finished neatly packing up. Placing her sunglasses on and swinging her pack on, she walked towards the door. She was about to reach for the doorknob when she caught the scent of that captain, much stronger than ever before. Stepping back, Devi trying to figure out a way to get away. She looked around and spotted the window.  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, Devi turned and walked towards the window. She was halfway to the window when there was a knock at the door. Devi stiffened and looked over her shoulder. Then she continued toward the window. As soon as she heard the door start to open, Devi took a few quick steps towards the window, opened it and jumped out the window.  
  
The door opened and Logan Exsony entered the room. He quickly looked about and saw that 5201 wasn't in the room. But he did notice the window that was open. Exsony walked over to the window and leaned out it. Looking both ways, Exsony noticed 5201, now more of a black figure in the crowd, weaving through the crowd.  
  
He pushed himself back into the room. Exsony dug into a hidden pocket that he put his clunky "walkie-talkie" into.  
  
"Beta, Delta, target is on the move. I repeat, target is on the move. It's wearing a black trenchcoat and blue sunglasses," he quickly said as he headed for the door. Both groups responded as Exsony left the room and ran down the stairs. He dashed through the saloon, everyone watching him run out the door before going back to their business.  
  
*****  
  
Devi weaved in and out of the crowd. Some of the people she had to gently shove her way through making sure that she wouldn't shove them to the ground. What she did leave behind her in her path was a trail of disgruntled or pissed off people yelling at her to watch where she's going.  
  
She didn't want to be on the run already, she pratically just got out. Devi turned into another street and skidded to a halt when she saw at least ten people, all wearing black and with guns at hand about to go in the direction that she just came from. Devi instantly knew that they were hostile and very quickly turned to continue down the street. She barely heard the order from on of the people behind her.  
  
"Quick, shoot it!"  
  
The group came into the street that Devi went back on. As soon as they thought Devi was in sight, she turned into an alley. Devi jumped and scaled the wall a bit before stopping just before the roof. No later did she stop moving those men appeared at the one end of the alley.  
  
"Where'd it go," one of them asked, clearly confused.  
  
"I don't know," answered another. "But it couldn't have gotten far though."  
  
The group ran down to the other end of the alley and turned left.  
  
Note to self, Devi thought as she climbed down the wall. Don't go left. Devi leapt off the wall and landed softly in the sand, listening for a moment for anyone else to come into the alley. She stood, dusted the front of her trenchcoat off and walked to the entrance of the alley that she used, taking her own advice. Devi turned right and - ran into someone.  
  
Devi took a step back to keep her balance. The person she ran into was slightly shorter than she and had spikey blond hair. The person looked up as he said, "Excuse me..."  
  
It was Vash, and his voiced trailed a bit before saying, "Devi, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."  
  
Devi straightened herself up a bit. "Well, I did say that we'd be meeting each other again."  
  
Vash gave a small shrug. "That's true."  
  
"We better be going," Meryl stated in an annoyed tone. Meryl proceeded to turn Vash around. Milly was waiting to be on the go again.  
  
"But I thought we were going that way," Vash said as he pointed toward Devi.  
  
Devi tensed up a bit, she could smell the person that was in the inn coming close. She tried her best to keep a calm face, but she could tell that worry and fear were in her eyes. Taking the opportunity of no one paying much attention to her, Devi ran towards a building and jumped high. She managed to get a grip of the edge of the rooftop and pushed herself away from the wall to do a flip onto the roof, hiding from anyone that may be coming for her.  
  
"And if we're going again, I want to say 'Good-bye' to....," Vash started to say as he turned toward where Devi was standing. He blinked in pure confusion. "Devi. Where did she go?"  
  
Meryl was still annoyed. "I don't know, but apparently she didn't want to say 'good-bye' to you."  
  
Behind them, the man that shoved his way through them at the saloon appraoched them. "Excuse me, could you tell me where a person wearing all black and has a braid in her hair?"  
  
Vash was still clearly confused. "I would considering that we were just talking to her, but I don't know where she disappeared off to."  
  
The man nodded. "Oh, well. Thank you for nothing really. I should be going." With that said, he walked past the group and hurried down the street.  
  
"Well," Meryl huffed. "That was rude of him."  
  
*****  
  
Devi sat on the rooftop, listening to the conversation until that man left. Then she silently stood and walked to the other side of the building. Jumping off the rooftop, Devi surprised a bunch of people, which they either yelped or jumped away from her. She stood and headed down the street in search for the body shop that she left her motorcycle at to be painted.  
  
Approaching the shop, she shifted her pack onto her shoulder a bit more before knocking on the door. Devi waited a moment until the man that she saw yesterday opened the door and looked at her.  
  
"May I help you?"  
  
"I'm here for the motorcycle."  
  
The man studied her a moment. "Oh, you're the one with the motorcyle.You changed a bit since yesterday. But it's ready for you."  
  
He opened the door a bit more, allowing Devi to entering. She entered and instantly smelled a mixture of oil, gas, grease and paint. The scent wasn't that strong, but it was enough to give a slight buzz in the head.  
  
She followed the man to where he put her motorcycle. This part of the shop had a more stronger scent of paint, a small headache started to develop due to the smell of the paint. Right in front of her, was her motorcycle, but not as she remembered it. It was pure black with a glossy finish. Devi was able to see her reflection in the covering.  
  
"Good job. How much?"  
  
"Hmmm....I'll have to check the records. If you'll follow me to my office, I'll be able to tell you."  
  
Great, he forgets how much the job costs and she's in a hurry. The longer she stays here, the more of a chance whoever is after her, can catch her here, stuck paying something. She was starting to become slightly impatient.  
  
In the man's office, the air was more cleaner than the rest of the shop, but the original smell still hung in the air like a spider web does, unnoticable, but eventually seen, or smelled in this case. Devi watched the man flip through a notebook on the desk, but then turned her attention to the surroundings of the office.  
  
Besides what little pictures the man had, what really caught her eye was a big display case. In the case was a collection of knives, all of varying color, size and style. She particularly liked the one that was displayed on the top shelf. It was a black handled, foldable knife. The handle would split in two and fold up, covering the knife. She was still looking at the knife when the man walked up beside her.  
  
"Like that knife? It's for sale if you want it."  
  
That was weird, it was as though the man read her mind. Devi wasn't sure what to say at first. "Uhh...how much?"  
  
"$$150, but for you, I'll take $$100."  
  
Sounding like a good enough deal for her, Devi nodded. "Sure, I'll take that too. And how much for the paint job?"  
  
"$$500."  
  
Devi nodded, then proceeded to place her pack down to dig through her pack to find the money that she took. She made a mental note to self that she'd have to count it before going into the next town. Making sure that the man didn't see the money that she's carrying in her pack, Devi counted $$600 and gave the man the money. He thanked her before getting the knife for her.  
  
Heading back into the main shop, the man handed her the key to her motorcycle.  
  
"Say," Devi started as she palmed her key. "Do you have a back way?"  
  
The man nodded. "Why sure."  
  
"May I use it?"  
  
"I don't see why not."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Devi took her motorcyle and exited the shop through a back door, which opened to a different street. As she started the motorcycle, the man shouted. "You have a safe journey!"  
  
She just nodded for her reply and checked to make sure everything was clear. Devi noticed that group of people that are wearing all black again, this time some of them were in vehicles. They were down the street a bit, but were in the direction that she wanted to go.  
  
Guess, I'll just have to get pass them. Hopefully they don't notice me. Devi revved the engine of her motorcycle up and faced the group. After sending the man a small wave, she put pressure on the gas and headed down the street.  
  
As she figured, the group looked up at her. One of the men recognized her and shouted something. In reply, the men rose their weapons and took aim. Devi put more gas to the engine and sped right by the group, dodging what shots they sent at her. After she passed them, she went down the street a bit before turning left.  
  
Now to get out of here. Devi thought as she drove down the street, a semi-cocky smirk on her face.  
  
*****  
  
Captain Exsony called his people to meet in one area. His one group, Beta, was taking its time getting there. After waiting a few minutes for all groups to gather, Exsony grew impatient and asked even though Beta wasn't there, "Did anyone get it? Or even seen it?"  
  
With a silent reply, the captain knew the answer all too well. The doctor was right, this one was a tricky character to capture. This thing seem to know what it's doing. His head turned in the direction of where he heard an engine being revved up.  
  
Exsony couldn't seem to believe his luck. It was heading down the street towards them on a black motorcycle. That must be the motorcycle that it took. He faced the group of men with him, all where looking at it on the motorcycle.  
  
"Ready your weapons. This is the thing that we're after!"  
  
Quickly, the men complied to his orders. 5201, to him, closed in closer on the group. After shouting the order to shoot, the men shot at 5201, and missed. Some of them 5201 dodged at it sped the motorcycle right by them. Angry and frustrated, Exsony slammed a fist on a nearby vehicle, then climbed in.  
  
"Follow it!" As soon as the vehicle started to move, he realized something. His last group never made it to him. He brought the clunky walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Beta, target has been located and is heading in your direction. Set up your sniper and be ready. We'll be there as soon as possible."  
  
The captain shut the walkie-talkie before Beta could answer. He watched 5201 turn the motorcycle onto another street. That thing is not going to get very far. Not when my sniper has the tranquilizer gun.  
  
*****  
  
Devi drove the motorcycle turning left and right towards the edge of town and keeping her path of flight very unpredictable. At one point, she could have sworn that she saw even more people wearing black just before turning. She thought to herself as she made that turn, Are they multiplying or something?  
  
Taking another right, Devi revved the engine of the motorcycle before speeding down the street. She was close to the edge of this town, there were more houses than anything else and it was less dense as the middle of the town. Making one last turn, Devi was able to see the edge of town.  
  
She was halfway there when something whizzed by her ear and barely missed her hand. Gasping in surprise, Devi glanced back and noticed someone standing on one of the buildings. Once again, she put more gas into the engine of her vehicle and sped towards her goal. Devi felt something hit the seat of the motorcycle, but she wasn't about to look to see what it was.  
  
Devi narrowed her eyes as she leaned towards the handlebars and blast out of the town. Breathing a sigh of relief, she continued her journey to wherever her motorcycle leads her. 


	8. Mysteries

Hello, Everyone!! Yet another long wait for this chapter to be put up. As usual, I thank everyone that has been reviewing this fic for more. I LOVE REVIEWS! hint hint Anywho.I do not own Trigun or Vashu. sniff sniff But I do own my characters that I created for this fic and the fic idea. Enjoy this chapter and LOVE AND PEACE!! ^^  
  
P.S. The chapter name MIGHT be changed.  
  
____________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 7: Mysteries  
  
Captain Exsony reached the edge of town just in time to see the retreating form of 5201disappear in the distance. Anger instantly started to build flushing his cheeks as he turned to one of the people of the group. He tried to keep calm as he spoke, but the tone of his voice gave away that he was pissed off.  
  
"What exactly happened?"  
  
"Uh...it got away." One of the men spoke, cautious as to what he just said.  
  
Exsony snapped. "I know it got away! I just saw it disappear in the horizon!!!"  
  
His men jerked back in surprise. He was glad for that. After, over than twenty-four hours of searching, they had it in their grasped. And they let it slip away. It gets frustrating after failing so many times, even though this one was his first time failing in getting 5201.  
  
"Then we go after her."  
  
One of his men stepped forward. "But sir, we've been searching without much rest. Can't we rest in town for the day?"  
  
Most of the other men agreed. Exsony was outnumbered. He sighed. "Alright, but we leave as soon as the first double sun is up."  
  
With that said, Exsony stalked back into the town and back to the inn.  
  
*****  
  
Vash, Milly and Meryl walked through the streets, gathering some supplies they'll need when they leave town. It seemed to have quiet lately. Before there were people, all wearing black, running through the streets, shoving people so they get wherever they were going.  
  
They were all silent as they went about on their mission to get more supplies. Vash's mind, as usual, was wondering.  
  
I wonder what made Devi leave. She seemed to be in a slight rush when we bumped into one another. He kept his thought to himself, it seems that Meryl gets a bit huffy with the mentioning of Devi. Then Vash remembered the man that entered the saloon and shoved Meryl to the side. Wasn't it the same man that walked up to them and asked a question? Vash didn't pay attention to the detail very well, especially when his mind was still trying to figure out where Devi disappeared.  
  
Maybe it was because of him. It seemed a bit far-fetched. It could really be anyone that came in the saloon after they left. And then again, how could Devi know that someone was coming? It wasn't like she was able to smell someone coming from far away. Maybe she was a psychic and saw that he, or someone, was coming and knew to get away for some reason. Whatever the reason, Devi seemed to have known that someone was coming.  
  
Vash sighed as they walked back to the saloon to get their vehicle and leave. Meryl looked over at him. "What is it now, Vash?"  
  
"Nothing," Vash blurted automatically. "Except that I was just wondering what made-"  
  
"Devi act so strange?" Meryl finished for him, annoyance dripping from each word like venom from a snake's fangs. She really didn't like Devi very much. Devi seemed like trouble to Meryl, and that was the last thing that Vash needed to get into. Trouble. "C'mon Vash, she's gone and we'll probably never see her again."  
  
"But didn't she said that we'll see each other again?" Milly asked as she shifted the bags in her arms slightly.  
  
"Like that's going to happen. She was probably saying that to get our hopes up. Now let's go."  
  
Vash doubted that.  
  
*****  
  
Devi drove away in her motorcycle all that morning Time slipped away and soon enough, the first of the double suns started to set. She slowed to a stop at a short ridge. Getting off the motorcycle, Devi stretched out and popped some joints that were stiff. She walked around a bit because she was tired of sitting and her butt was sore.  
  
She took off her trench coat and draped it over her motorcycle, which is now standing with the kickstand support. Sitting beside the motorcycle, Devi yanked off her boots and her socks and stretched her feet, allowing them to breathe. She watched as her claws slowly came out of her toes as she stretched them.  
  
Now that no one was after her at the time being, Devi decided to try to figure out who it was that was after her. The scent was so familiar to her, but she just didn't have the time to put a face or memory to the scent. Devi leaned lightly on the motorcycle, folding her hands behind her head.  
  
In her mind, it showed a mini version of herself digging through numerous filing cabinets. The filing cabinets represented her memories. Mini-Devi rummaged through most of the files of her later "childhood." The look on her face was one of pure concentration, sometimes breaking it when seeing a "good" memory. Then she picked up the memory she was looking for.  
  
Devi's eyes widen a bit. "That's right! It's him."  
  
~*Flashback*~  
  
It was late and Devi, or rather 5201 at the time, snuck out of her cell using the air vents, that is before they out in smaller air vents, making it hard for her to move. She was walking silently through the halls towards the kitchen, where she knew she would get some "real" food besides that colorless nutrient goop that they give her. She does her best to avoid eating it. It tasted like old boots, if she even knew what they tasted like.  
  
She turned into a hallway and nearly ran into a man. Like all the other humans that come into this facility, he was shorter than she was. He startled her and out of reaction, Devi swung her arm and swiped his cheek with her outstretched claws. Then she turned and ran back to her cell, using the air vents to get back.  
  
~*End Flashback*~  
  
Devi sighed. That was not one her favorite memories. She remembered the result from her swiping at him the next night when he walked by. The result was a patch on his cheek where she cut him only once, which eventually became a scar. Devi also remember the scent, like a mixture of wood and fresh air.  
  
Now that she knew what, or more like, who she was up against, Devi will have to keep ahead of him and elude him like she did earlier today. If he located her that fast, no telling if he was on her tail now. But right now, she just wanted to rest and watch the suns set.  
  
She breathed in deeply and a slight smile came to her face. The sunset. It was very beautiful just watching it, especially seeing the whole horizon instead of a part of it. And plus, she didn't have bars in her way either. The sunset had a calming effect on her. It was probably because of the mixture of colors. How the orange fade into pink and pink into purple and blue. The royal blue color was her favorite, a perfect mixture of blue and purple. The sunset was always so...colorful.  
  
The wind picked up a bit as the last of the suns faded into the horizon. It made the shorter part of her hair blow into her face. It also sent a chill down her spine as she reached over and picked up a food bar that she snatched from the facility and ate it.  
  
Upon finishing her "dinner," Devi pulled her trench coat off the motorcycle and moved her boots so she can use them as a pillow. Devi yawned as she stretched out on the sand. Note to self: get a blanket and pillow when I reach the next town. Oh yeah, and some food too. 


	9. A Different Encounter

Disclaimer! Disclaimer! I do not own Trigun..or the characters of Trigun! I DO own the characters created and the fic idea. Well.here's chapter 8 and look.Knives is in it! I have a strange feeling this fic is going to become total mayhem eventually. Oh well, enjoy!  
  
Kuroneko: Nyao!  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 8: A Different Encounter  
  
Devi reached the next town of Chevy within the next three days. The first thing she did was dropping her motorcycle at a shop and asking someone there to fill it up. She left it there as she swung her rather empty pack and walked down the street.  
  
She first got a room at the inn so she can rest and check to see how much money she has left. Once Devi figured out that she had enough money for supplies, dinner and a night here, she took a short nap. The best part was the nap; at least the bed was softer than the sand, not to mention cleaner.  
  
An hour later, Devi woke up with a rumbling stomach. Wearily, she got out of bed. She felt majorly grimy, but decided to put a good cleaning until she gathered her supplies, before bed.  
  
The many scents of the people, the alcohol, and, of course, the food helped her wake up a bit. Devi focused on getting to the bar; she ordered her meal and sat there, drinking whatever alcohol the bartender placed in front of her, even though she wasn't very fond of it.  
  
*****  
  
Knives hated the humans, which he called vermin, with a passion. He took a sip of the coffee and almost choked on it. The vermin got his coffee order wrong. They didn't put enough sugar and cream in his coffee. Frustrated, Knives sat back in his corner of the saloon, sulking at the vermin, which continually drain the blood of his siblings' everyday.  
  
He watched as a woman wearing all black stride into the saloon. Her braided hair swaying along in step with her black trench coat. She was more graceful than any of the other humans he's seen. It was as though she would be able to kill someone in one swift move. Knives was good at reading what a person is like, and this is the type of person he wouldn't mind in helping in the destruction of these vermin.  
  
The other thing Knives noticed about this vermin. She was incredibly tall, taller than all of the vermin in this room, or maybe the town. She was also silent in her movement, not loud and jerky.  
  
Knives shook his head. He picked up a nearby newspaper. One of the reasons that he actually came into a town was because he heard rumors about a genetic experiment escaping. Knives was actually amazed that they were true and that the vermin was able to do such experiments. The recent article, which was four days old, said about the close capture of it.  
  
Old news, Knives thought as he turned the page to read the funnies. Some of them had to do with the recent events with the experiment escaping and he actually found it funny on how simple these vermin think. Most of the pictures that had to do with it showed a freak of nature.  
  
Knives took another sip out of the coffee, forgetting how horrible it tasted until he had a small sip of it in his mouth. Sipping it all over the newspaper, he set the cup down and pushed it away from him as far as possible. Then he set the wet newspaper down and went back to watching the vermin.  
  
He went into a daze, as that female vermin came back down for a meal. She sat down at the other side of the room to Knives. Knives noticed that just one of those annoying vermin that is a waitress came over.  
  
"Would you like anything else, sir?"  
  
That damn vermin should have never came back over and bothered him. Didn't he tell her to leave him alone or else she wouldn't live to see another day? He'll just have to teach her a lesson.  
  
Knives shot around and snagged the small pathetic vermin at the neck. He lifted her off her feet as he stood. Her screams filled the saloon, bringing everyone's attention to them.  
  
He lowered the vermin down until they were eye to eye. She wasn't able to touch the floor. She squirmed though, trying to get away, even though there was no way she was able to.  
  
"Now you listen to me," Knives started to say until he felt something cool and hard on the back of his skull. He stopped before he could go on.  
  
"No," said a stern feminine voice. "You listen to me. You are going to set her down and leave this saloon and maybe even this town. And if I catch you doing this shit again, I can guarantee you that next time, you just might not live."  
  
What was this? A HUMAN threatening him? No one ever threatened him in this matter. And even if they did, they never were as confident or as stern as this one would be, especially for a female one. He'll just have to see whom this person is telling him to do this in such a matter.  
  
"Sure, I'll put her down." Knives literally dropped the girl and she crawled away backwards until she reached the edge of the circle of the crowd.  
  
Knives then turned around to see that it was that girl wearing all black. Wait, wasn't she all the at the other end of the building? He hid his surprise by narrowing his eyes. The other fact that he was slightly surprised about was her height, she was taller than he. It didn't matter, she was still a girl and vermin at that, and he'll be able to take good care of her.  
  
She still had the gun aimed for him. She wasn't trembling or anything like that. She was firm and steady. She didn't even flinch. She was confident, or pissed off by her look.  
  
Swiftly, Knives went for the gun, but she was able to see his intent and turned, yanking the gun out of his hands. This time, Knives didn't hold back his look of surprise. The girl came around and nailed him in the stomach with her elbow. Knives bent forward slightly from the force of the blow.  
  
She went to kick Knives in the same spot that she punched him, but he was able to grab her leg before it made contact. Knives twisted the foot at the ankle, but she twisted with it. She placed her hands on the floor the making her be able to get a kick off at Knives while he was still trying to twist her foot off. The kick made Knives let go and he fell onto a table.  
  
She straightened on her feet as Knives crouched low and launched himself at the girl and tackled her. They crashed into a table, some of the splinters piercing their skin. Knives didn't care as long as he had the upper hand. He managed to get a punch into the girl's face before she could get a strong punch on Knives.  
  
Knives flew a few feet back from the girl. Granted, the girl had a wicked punch, but Knives weren't about to let some human, especially a female human, to get the best of him. They both got up and the girl dusted some of herself off before Knives were on top of her. He threw yet another punch at her, but she had the reflexes of a cat and snagged his wrist and tossed him through the closest wall and onto the street.  
  
Knives picked himself up onto his elbows. He had to admit, this girl was not to be messed with. He had to finish this, and finish it fast. So Knives did what he should have done in the beginning, use his black gun. He pulled it out its holster and took careful aim at the girl. He shot his gun.  
  
*****  
  
Time seemed to have slowed down for Devi as she watched her opponent, whose scent reminded her of Vash even though it wasn't Vash, shoot at her. Her first reaction was to dodge out of the way. But she forgot about the others in the saloon, and she didn't realize until too late.  
  
The bullet she dodged hit the girl that he was holding earlier. It pierced through her forehead, killing her instantly. Devi gasped in surprise and turned to see about the girl. It was no use; she was dead. Devi slammed her fist on the floor next to her. She turned to the hole in the wall to see that her opponent disappeared.  
  
She shakes her head as she stood. Devi could feel the stares of everyone as she walked by the bar. She placed a few hundred double dollars on the bar. "Sorry for the damage and your worker's death."  
  
She went back to her room. Devi couldn't believe that she could let that happen. She was being selfish and only thinking of her well-being. Like that it mattered, her back already had some splinters from the table that her opponent rammed her into earlier.  
  
Might as well not dwell on it, I'll be gone by noon tomorrow.  
  
*****  
  
Knives walked away from the broken saloon before that girl saw him and decided to go after him again. He couldn't believe that girl and the way she fought. She was practically throwing him around like a rag doll. Knives has never known anyone who was able to that to him, and even if they were able to, they never did that to him for they knew what would happen to them.  
  
Maybe she could be of service to me.. Knives quickly shook his head at the thought. After they way she reacted when he picked up that vermin that bothered him. Wasn't she all the way at the other side of the saloon before he picked the vermin up?  
  
But then again, something about that girl made her different. A secret that is kept hidden, and can revealed in many ways. Knives could almost sense that she was keeping something, a story that she doesn't want anyone to know.  
  
But I'll find out, He thought as he climbed into his jeep. I'll follow her when she leaves. And then I'll find out something about her that no one knows. 


	10. Close Encounter of the Unfriendly Kind

Hey again! Same disclaimer as always: I dun own Trigun or the characters (unfortunately). Anywho, enjoy chapter 9, it was rather interesting how I wrote this one. ^^ LOVE AND PEACE!!  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 9: Close Encounter of the Unfriendly Kind  
  
The next morning, Devi separated what was left of her money and placed half in her pack. She made another mental note to find a gambling game to get some more money, if she's lucky that night. Picking up the other half of her money, she pocketed it in her trench coat.  
  
Heading downstairs, Devi could smell a different scent in the air. She also noted that most of the people moved away from her, scared. Some of them where watching her out of the corners of their eyes. She set her pack down next to the stool that she sat down at. Devi ordered a small meal, then paid for the night and her meal and left the saloon, trying her best not to look at the huge hole that was still there from last night's fight.  
  
Oy..like I need to be reminded of that. That person she fought reminder her of Vash, yet it wasn't Vash. For one thing, the hair was lighter and much shorter and the scent she caught was more on the spicy side than what Vash's was. Devi just hoped that she didn't run into him again, it would probably cause more destruction, maybe even more than last night.  
  
Devi walked down the street and entered a general store. She mostly grabbed food, dry foods that won't become bad so fast. Devi did see a blanket too, a checkered blanket of royal blue and orange. It was a bit odd with the coloration, but it attracted her and she liked it. She got lucky and had enough money for the supplies, but not enough for a pillow. Devi wasn't worried about it at the moment, she was just wanted to leave before people became suspicious.  
  
Upon leaving the store, Devi noticed a group of men to her left, so she turned right and headed for the auto shop, where she left her motorcycle. She didn't need to turn around to know that those men were following her. Devi quickened her pace, but it proved nothing. Another group of men appeared from one of the streets ahead. Unfortunately, she wasn't near another street as means of escape.  
  
They, cornered against the wall, surrounded her. In all actually, she didn't want to hurt them, since they really didn't do anything to her unlike those scientists. Devi caught few of the men say the same thing.  
  
"It's the genetic experiment. It's worth $$100 billion double dollars."  
  
"Let's get it and collect the money."  
  
Most of the men pulled out their guns and aimed them at Devi. Devi raised her eyebrows. "Well, what an interesting situation I've gotten myself into. Hmmm...now to get myself out of it."  
  
One of the men shot at her feet, she took a small step back but no look of surprise came to her face. "Don't you even think about moving, you're coming with us."  
  
"You like to think that, but I really have to get moving." With that statement, Devi leapt high into the air and stuck to the wall. Most of the people were surprised as they watched her practically fly from the wall over the street to the rooftop. Some of them had the nerve to try to shoot at her, but they all missed.  
  
And, thus, begins the chase that'll lead to the partial destruction of the town.  
  
*****  
  
Devi landed on the roof easily; she darted across the rooftop and leapt to the street below. She ran to her left, and right behind Devi the group of men that surrounded her before appeared and chased her. They all shouted, telling everyone in town who she was.  
  
Soon enough, the whole town was after her. Devi kept evading the people, but not their explosives. She was able to protect herself from major injury, but not scrapes and scratches. There was a huge explosion at a building Devi was near. Miraculously, she was just at the edge of the explosion and it sent her flying through the air.  
  
"Why me," Devi shouted as she flew through the air and landed on a rooftop. She rolled to lessen the blow of the landing, but it didn't help that well. "Oy.that hurt."  
  
Devi lifted herself up from the roof. She heard more shouting and the all too familiar scent of gunpowder. There was another close explosion and she took a quick cover from the debris.  
  
"I guess that means I better be going." Devi stood and ran in the opposite direction of the explosions.  
  
*****  
  
Sometime went by before Milly, Vash and Meryl reached the edge of the town. What they saw was the last thing that they'd expect to see. The town was practically a war zone. Most of the buildings had holes and others had chunks of them missing. Gun shots and explosions where everywhere. People were shouting and saying about not blowing up someone.  
  
"What in the world is going on?" Meryl demanded at someone nearby with a rifle in their hands.  
  
"We're after that genetic experiment that has 100 billion double dollars on its head," the person stated. "The only problem is that we can't catch it and it has yet to send back a single shot."  
  
"Hmm.sounds like someone I know," Meryl stated as she side glanced Vash. "Or at least heard of."  
  
"Well, you're welcome to help if you want to," the person stated.  
  
"No thank you," Meryl quickly answered before Vash could say anything. "We want to refuel and restock and be on our way hopefully by nightfall. Bye now."  
  
Meryl pushed Vash past the person they were talking to. Milly followed right behind, smiling as usual. There were more explosions and gunfire around them as they moved along the street.  
  
"Well, this should be interesting," Vash comment as Meryl continued to push him down the street. "And will you please quit pushing me? I can walk on my own, you know."  
  
Meryl gave Vash a final shove, which resulted in Vash being face planted in the sand. She stepped over him, then turned and faced Vash. "Fine, but you stay out of trouble."  
  
Instantly, Vash stood and did a very military-like salute. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"  
  
Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned around. "And quit fooling around."  
  
It was Vash's turn to roll his eyes as he slumped his shoulders, then turned and followed Meryl and Milly, mumbling something about Meryl still being no fun.  
  
*****  
  
Devi ran rooftop to rooftop to get away from the people who were after her. Explosions were everywhere and gunshots were being fired at her, but none of them were able to hit her. Most of her injuries were mainly from bad landings and debris.  
  
Man, Devi thought as she leapt onto another roof. These people can't hit the broad side of a barn.   
  
She landed and rolled halfway across the roof. Devi stood and became face to face with a group of men and women, all aiming their guns at her. One of them raised his gun to have a more careful aim of her.  
  
"You better give yourself up, 5201."  
  
Devi narrowed her eyes at the mention of her experiment ID. Slowly, she took a few steps backwards, but stopped when everyone tensed and aimed. A defiant smirk came across her face.  
  
"Well, as much as I would like to stay and be turned in for oh-so- much money, but I better be going."  
  
The man placed his finger on the trigger. "Don't move."  
  
With that, Devi leapt and did a backhand spring off the roof. Everyone started shooting as she did her trick. One of them got lucky and a bullet skimmed the outside part of her left thigh. It stung as she landed in the dusty street. Unfortunately, she didn't have anytime to check how bad it is.  
  
The people there were ready for her. Some of them started shooting at her, all missing her barely.  
  
I never truly wanted to use this, Devi thought as she reached for her Peacemaker. She pulled it out and shot at the people's feet. She shot only twice, to use it more as a distraction more than anything. It was a good enough to allow her to get away. Devi darted away in the other direction, placing her gun back in its holster. Her leg stung a bit, but she ignored it as she ran.  
  
She leapt and bounced off the wall and ricocheted off the walls of the alley. Devi thought she saw Vash, Milly and Meryl, but she didn't have time to find out that it is false and the people were after her bounty.  
  
Devi landed and rolled again, but she stopped as soon as she appeared in the street. Some of the people looked at her weird. She readjusted the pack on her back, trying to make it more comfortable. Dusting herself off a bit, Devi walked down the street for the auto shop.  
  
She reached the auto shop with no problem. Devi entered, paid for the refueling and cleaning it off and then walked her bike out into the street. She set her pack in the compartment of the motorcycle. Straddling her bike, she revved her motorcycle.  
  
Devi heard the distant screams behind her. She looked behind her to see it was half of the town. Quickly, she turned around, placed her sunglasses on her face after realizing that she never put them on until now, and sped off on her motorcycle away from the group. The motorcycle drowned out the shouts from the group. Devi could feel the bullets get close to her skin, but none of them hit directly. She smiled in victory as she drove away from the now beaten town of Chevy, leaving a trail of dust behind her.  
  
What Devi didn't see was the jeep that pulled away from the edge of town and followed Devi's trail.  
  
*****  
  
Throughout the mists of the battle, Vash, Milly and Meryl walked through the town, getting supplies that they would need to continue their trip. As usual, Vash would be either thinking of Devi or flirting with some girl who wasn't after Devi at the moment. Meryl would have to drag Vash away from the girls and apologize for his behavior.  
  
They were walking down the one street when they heard gunfire in front of them. Then saw a person wearing all black run and bounce down the alley. They stopped where they stood for a moment in surprise.  
  
"Was that Devi?" Vash asked after a moment.  
  
"No, it couldn't have been," Meryl answered. "Devi was taller."  
  
"Oh, ok. Then shall we get going?" 


	11. A Place for my Head

Hey again! I see you've made it this far in reading. YAY! I've been working hard on getting chapters up ASAP. Well, thank you for your patience and for your reviews, KEEP THEM UP! Well, here's chapter 10. Enjoy and LOVE AND PEACE, no da!  
  
Kuroneko: Nyaaa.  
  
_______________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 10: A Place for my Head  
  
  
  
Captain Exsony and his crew reached Chevy expecting to see a regular town with the everyday people. But they saw a town that was half rubble more than buildings. People were everywhere rebuilding their town while children played in and around the rubble. After two days of traveling under the double suns, Captain Exsony and his crew just wanted to rest and get some food in their systems, but now Exsony's crew had a feeling that they weren't going to get just that.  
  
Exsony looked over the town from his perch on one of the vehicles. He wondered what happened to the town, and he was going to find out eventually. Exsony sighed at the sight of the town. He looked down at his men. "Let's go help them, men."  
  
Some of the men let a quiet groan out while others rolled their eyes, but never complained face to face to the captain. They all complied with their leader's orders and helped out the townspeople in rebuilding the town.  
  
As time went on, morning turned into lunchtime and the townspeople were directed to the town square for their simple lunches: cold sandwiches and snacks such as potato chips and pretzels. Exsony's men got their lunches and gathered together in one area. Exsony got a ham and cheese with mustard and ate his sandwich while heading for the only standing building at the moment that is complete.  
  
The building he headed for was small and simple; it was where the mayor was station while the town was being rebuilt. A guard halted Exsony and he told the guard why he was here. The guard allowed him into the building and told him to wait in a room while he went to tell the mayor that he was here.  
  
Exsony was looking at some of the pictures of town events that were hanging on a wall when the guard came back to tell him that he was allowed to go see the mayor. The captain entered another room, but this one was more set up as an office, with a desk and chair and two other chairs in front of the desk. The mayor that sat behind the desk was much older that Exsony and had less hair. He hid his eyes behind dark-rimmed glasses and his pasty face told Exsony that he was afraid of what happened to the town.  
  
"Captain, its good to see you here with your men helping out, especially after what happened to this town," the pasty-faced mayor stated.  
  
Captain Exsony gave the mayor a small smile that looked more like a smirk. "Well, we were just in the town and I felt it would be better to have my men help. It would help in their strength."  
  
The mayor nodded. "Well, what can I do for you today?"  
  
"I want to know how this happen."  
  
It looked like the mayor's face went a bit whiter, any whiter and his face would be pure white. He exhaled deeply. "It was that genetic experiment. Everyone in this town went after it and no one captured it. It was as though it was Vash the Stampede, but wearing black."  
  
Exsony rocked back on his heels. He wasn't expecting one mere thing to do this much damage. Then again, it really wasn't it that did the damage; it was the bad aiming of the townspeople. But that thing was able to evade a whole town, a WHOLE town, with hundreds of people, all probably with guns and explosives for protection.  
  
He looked at the mayor again. "May I sit down so we can discuss this more?"  
  
*****  
  
The stars shone brightly along with three out of the five moons of Gunsmoke in the nighttime sky. The air was still, as it has been for the past two days already, but the sand was still able to get everywhere. But since the wind wasn't blowing, Devi was able to make a fire near a huge rock formation. Devi poked at the fire once more before laying down. Her body ached and was exhausted after driving on her motorcycle for a day and a half straight after leaving Chevy. As she lay there on the sands, she felt a throbbing coming from her left thigh.  
  
Devi sat up slowly, the soreness of her body reminded her of the events in Chevy. She hoped that it wouldn't happen again, but something in the back of her head made it seem impossible for that. Slipping her trench coat off, what Devi mainly saw in terms of injury, besides the gun wound, were few bruises, which looked like they were almost healed already.  
  
She moved on to examining her left thigh. The wound was charred around the edge and a crystallized dark brownish-red in the middle. Some sand was sticking to the scabbed over wound, which means it is probably infected by sand.  
  
Moving slowly due to her sore muscles, Devi stood and brought her pack over to the fire's light. She pulled out a medical kit and some loose clothing, which she got both while shopping for supplies. She changed into the loose clothing, which were a blue, long-sleeved T-shirt and a lighter pair of shorts.  
  
Devi sat on her trench coat that she folded up and adjusted herself so she can clean up and dresses her wound. She took one of her claws and she opened up her wound so she can get to the dirt that gotten into her wound better. Picking at the scab, blood came out and ran down her leg a bit. Devi took a piece of cotton to the opening of the alcohol bottle and shook it a moment to get some on the cotton. Then she carefully dabbed the alcohol soaked cotton on her now opened wound. The alcohol stung the wound so much that Devi bit her lip with one of her over-sized canines and punctured her lip.  
  
The blood that came from her lip seemed to have comforted her as she finished on cleaning and dressing the wound. Granted, she's not much of a doctor, but she learned most of her skills one of two ways: teaching herself or watching the doctors when they did something to themselves. She a very good at learning just by watching, which is how she learned how to use the motorcycle when the doctors there were doing late night experiments and she would sneak out of her room and into the air vents and watch from there.  
  
Devi smiled at the memories of sneaking around the facility that was probably the best part about it, except for escaping and the geoplant that was near the facility. The only thing she didn't like much about the geoplant was that it was where the most research took place on her. How fast she can go and so on and so on. And after half a day at the geoplant, they would take her into a lab and do blood work and they try to figure out what part of her genetic code gave her what abilities.  
  
The wind picked up a bit and chilled her skin. Devi moved carefully and pulled out her blanket that she bought in town and began to get ready for a good night's sleep. The wind picked up a bit and a scent drifted to her nose. She became suddenly alert to her surroundings. Sniffing the air a couple of times, she realized it was the scent of her opponent in the town. Devi narrowed her eyes and went back to setting up her bed. He's probably watching me right now.   
  
Devi carefully walked over to her motorcycle and pulled out her blanket. Then she pulled out her knife and tucked it out of site. Gathering the blanket and the knife, Devi walked over to her fire to set her blanket up for a good night's rest. Then she silently slipped off into the night to go after the person who is following her, following her nose the whole way.  
  
*****  
  
Knives got to the line of rocks an ile or so away from the female vermin he followed. He was able to see where she was by the glow of her fire. He was only there for about five to ten minutes because Knives couldn't drive for a day and a half straight like her. What endurance this one had, it wasn't normal for anyone to drive over twenty-four hours on a motorcycle, it had to be very uncomfortable, and not stop for anything to eat for drink.  
  
There was something about her, something that he sensed actually. Power much like the plants, but only half the strength. What was also odd about this vermin was the way she moved and fought. Knives noticed that she had her own gun, a .45 Long Colt Peacemaker to be exact, but shortly after Knives turned around and the fight began. It was as though she preferred to hand-to-hand combat than a gun, or at least more comfortable. She was confident, or cocky, Knives really couldn't tell the difference, in the way she fought and that she knew what she was doing.  
  
Knives peered down towards where that vermin was. He noticed that, even though he was far away, she was wrapping her leg. Hmmm... Knives thought, Apparently she isn't invincible.  
  
The wind blew on his back and he turned around and sat hear where he made his fire to eat his meal of chicken broth and noodles. How is it that a vermin like her was able to throw him around like a rag doll? It just wasn't physically possible, especially since that vermin is a female nonetheless. Knives should have been able to kill her off easily. Maybe he was getting to be like his brother, soft. No. Knives wouldn't let that happen to him, never in his rather long lifetime.  
  
He was about to start eating when suddenly, an arm wrapped around his neck and he felt a sharp pain on his back left shoulder. Sharply, Knives inhaled from the sudden impact of pain. Then he saw the shine of a knife blade and felt the breath of someone right behind him at his ear.  
  
"First you try to kill an innocent girl off, which you do succeed anyway. Then you try to beat me up, which was a complete failure. And now, you decided to follow me. Do you have a death wish or do you just like me?"  
  
It was that damn vermin again. How did she know that he was here? And how was she able to get up behind him so silently? Knives had to be a good ile or so away. This freaking vermin was practically the queen of all vermin. Very annoying, but for some reason is unpredictable.  
  
"I was just trying to figure out how a weak human like yourself was able to beat someone as superior as myself," Knives comment, putting much emphasis on 'human.'  
  
He got rewarded with more pain in his shoulder. "I'm telling you now," the vermin hissed. " I'm not human. And if you value your life, you would leave and stop following me."  
  
With that said, the vermin shoved Knives to the left, using the hand that was at his left shoulder to twist him around and land on his rear. At the same time more pain came from his shoulder. He faced that vermin once more. After glaring at her for a moment, then adjusted his gaze to her gloved hand and instantly saw something weird and out of place.  
  
Protruding from her glove, were cat-like claws, which were at the moment dripping with blood. His blood. Knives went back to looking at the vermin. If looks could kill, he'd be dead ten times now. She was glaring, eyes like slits, down at him. Knives carefully move his right hand to his left shoulder and lightly touched the back of his shoulder. Wincing in pain from the touch, Knives jerked his hand away from the shoulder, revealing blood on his fingertips.  
  
"What the hell are you?"  
  
The girl turned away from Knives, at the same time allowed her nails to retreat back into her hand. "As I said before, I'm not human; I am a wanderer of the winds, coming and going as I please. Now go and leave me alone and don't follow me."  
  
It was as though his feet had a mind of their own as he stood and walked over to the vehicle. Then he drove off, spinning some sand as he did so. Knives really wasn't thinking on following her, she was crazy. And what she did to his shoulder was inhuman-like. It was more like a sand cat just decided to use his shoulder as a scratching post.  
  
*****  
  
Devi stood there and waited for her Vash-like opponent to be out of site. When the lights of his vehicle disappeared into the night horizon, she moved to where he was sitting and picked up the pot that held the rest of his meal, which was chicken broth with noodles. She sniffed the contents in the pot and found it warm and comforting. Carefully, she took a sip of the warm liquid and could feel it slide down her throat. It warmed her against the night's cold air.  
  
Before walking back to her camp, Devi kicked some sand onto a dying fire making sure that it was completely out. She couldn't believe that he would do such a thing as follow her. You would have figured that he would have learned from the first time around not to follow her.  
  
She sighed upon finishing her meal and reaching her camp. Devi could now feel the weariness from the driving and what just happened. Her legs and arms felt sore, while she felt drained. She moved her makeshift bed a bit before she picked up her blanket and wrapped around her shoulders.  
  
"Ah, bed," was all she said as she fell forward. Devi was out before she even hit her bed. 


	12. Papercut

Oy vay! Sorry everyone for the MAJOR long wait for this chapter. I hope it is worth the wait to you all. Enjoy! LOVE AND PEACE!!! ^^  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Trigun, but I wish I did. Dun sue me, I dun have enough money to solve everything. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.  
  
______________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 11: Papercut  
  
Another day went by since Devi's last 'meeting' with that annoying man, who reminded her a lot of Vash, except for the way he acted. By this time, it was morning and she reached the town called Creed. Devi was lucky to see that there was a casino in the town. Granted, she never seen a casino, but heard of them after a scientist came back from vacation, if they go though. Hopefully, there will be a certain card game that she knows mostly about after only one night of playing, thanks to the scientists.  
  
Poker.  
  
How she learned that game was rather interesting. The one night, late night, some of the scientists decided to get drunk and play poker right in the same area that she was kept in. They kept one of them sober, so they'd have a way to get back to town. The drunks convinced the sober guy to allow her to play poker. She won with various, but very good, hands, and what was especially funny were their reactions when she asked, "Is it good when you have all royal except for an ace and a ten and they are all the same suite?" Which she learned then was called a Royal Flush, after that, Devi won on some straights and other 'flushes,' but not royal.  
  
She sighed. That was one of her better times, probably the only one. After that night, they made a rule stating about no alcohol or poker playing in the building. Oh well, that was all in the past and she was not worried about them at all. Devi was far away from where she escaped, with hope of never going back.  
  
The first thing she did was she got a room at the inn, so she can have a place for her things while she went on her 'chores.' Then Devi gathered some items and headed for the shower, she really needed one after being out in the desert for so long. She left her boots and gloves behind and she padded to the bathroom for a shower.  
  
The shower was warm and exactly what she needed after being out under the double suns and the sand getting everywhere. Devi massaged her scalp, dislodging the dirt before shampooing her hair and washing off. Devi was especially careful in cleaning out her bullet wound, which burned a bit from the water and soap. She then rinsed off and just stood in the shower, allowing the water to massage her back. After a minute or so, Devi finally shut the shower and climbed out of the shower. Grabbing the closest towel, she towel dried off partially. Then wrapped herself with the towel, grabbed her stuff that she brought with her and padded down the hallway, back to her room.  
  
In her room again, Devi dried up fully with the towel and wrapped her hair up with it. Then she changed into her extra clothing, which are also her pajamas. She then slipped on her boots, gloves and trench coat, grabbed some of what is left of her money and headed for the general store for some small supplies, basically a small sewing kit and a med kit for future uses.  
  
After about a half an hour, Devi came back with what she ran out to get. She also had a meat stick sticking out from her mouth. It was cheap and good, it was also different from what she's had before out in the desert. She set the bag on the bed, climbed over the bed and got her tights. Devi flopped back on the bed and adjusted herself so she sat there cross-legged. Digging in the bag, Devi pulled out a small sewing kit and the med kit. She used the med kit to quickly clean and bandage up her leg. Then she picked up the sewing kit.  
  
This should be interesting, Devi thought as she set her tights on her lap and the sewing kit to her side. If there were a few things that she doesn't know how to do its how to sew. She picked up the kit and dug out black thread and a needle. Devi also pick up a small section of black cloth that was much like the cloth of her tights and set that in front of her. Then she started to sew a small patch were the bullet skimmed her.  
  
When Devi was finished patching her tights, she had many small pinpricks on her fingers. But she was happy they were done. She changed into her tights once more and gathered her towel and such so she can get them washed. Devi had to read the directions that were on the wall above the washer to get it to work. The lady that was in the room folding her wash was looking at her weird as Devi read the directions aloud and talked to herself as she followed the directions. Devi then left to take a nap while her stuff got washed.  
  
*****  
  
Knives sat in the medical wing of his ship trying his best to clean the wounds that little inhuman bitch gave him. It hurt like hell, even when he moved his arm. He knows that he should go into the bulb as he had done so before, but he had too many questions on his mind, especially about that bitch.  
  
He winced once more, but it was from when he moved something solid that was implanted in his wound. Then Knives carefully took a cotton ball and tried to pick up the foreign object. He thought he was going to pass out from the pain, even though its not as much as when he gets hit with a bullet, but soon succeeded, pulling his hand away from the wound.  
  
What was imbedded in his wound was one of the cat-like claws from her. Knives plucked the piece of the claw, discarded the bloody cotton ball and examined the claw. It looked like a regular cat claw, except for being doused in his blood. Knives set the claw aside until he finished bandaging his shoulder.  
  
Once he finished bandaging his shoulder, Knives picked up the broken claw and headed for a room where he can figure out what this little bitch is exactly.  
  
The room he entered was close to where the bulb is. It has a computer hooked to a special scanning machine, used to scan through an organic sample to figure out the DNA sequence of it. It takes a long time to do so, sometimes not even finishing. Knives set the broken claw on the tray where the machine would scan it and turned the machine and the computer on.  
  
The machine whirred and hummed, filling the room with sound that hasn't been heard in years. The computer monitor glowed with life and Knives pushed a few buttons on the console, bringing up the scanning program. It took a moment before the computer connected with the machine and tell it what to do.  
  
Knives left the room as the machine closed in on the object and begin its scanning process, shutting the lights off and going to the room next door to go into his bulb. He ripped the bloody bandage that he had on over his shoulder and chucked it before he entered the bulb.  
  
*****  
  
When Devi woke up from her nap, it was close to noon. She rolled out of bed, fixed her hair, washed her face and went to get her laundry and put it into the dryer. This time when Devi was talking to herself as she read and followed the directions, there was no one to look at her weird.  
  
"There," Devi stated as the soft roar of the dryer told her that she has successfully followed the directions. She left the room then and headed outside to explore the town a bit and get something to eat.  
  
*****  
  
((A/N: LOOK WHO'S BACK!! Took me long enough to get them back in the picture. And what's a Trigun fic without a dodge ball game, huh? Well, enjoy!))  
  
"Oh, what a beautiful day it is," Vash exclaimed, arms outstretched as though he was trying to embrace the sky. "And what a lovely town to go with it too."  
  
"Yes, it most certainly is," Meryl agreed, as she and Milly followed right behind Vash.  
  
Up ahead of the trio, kids of all ages were playing dodge ball. The laughter and activity was contagious all over the town, people were walking about, having conversations with friends and laughing at one another's stories or jokes.  
  
A red rubber ball rolled towards them and Vash placed his foot on top of it. The group of kids that were following the ball stopped and looked at Vash.  
  
"Hey, mister,' said one of the older kids. "Can you give us the ball back?"  
  
Vash rolled his foot off the ball, put his toe underneath and lifted the ball up so he can grab it. Smiling, Vash spun the ball on the tip of his finger. "Sure," Vash answered. "But can I play too?"  
  
"Alright," the kid said.  
  
Swiftly, Vash chucked the ball at the kids and a new game of dodge ball started. As the game continued, Milly and Meryl disappeared to a café for a snack to hold them until later. As they ate their snacks, which were chocolate pudding, they watched the game and laughed at Vash's crazy antics.  
  
Ah, Vash. The reason Meryl wanted to stay on this job and watch him. She liked, no, loved him, but was always too scared to show it. Meryl was a bit jealous when Devi was around. Vash was fixated on her, even talked about how worried he is for her. Meryl was just fed up with it, and was actually happy when he didn't mention Devi for a period of time. She seemed to be out of the picture for good, like most people that come into their lives. That's usually what happens to most people they come across, they either try to get their revenge for some reason or try to get Vash's bounty and it ends up that Vash teaches a lesson to them on love and peace or something like that.  
  
Just as Meryl started to daydream of her and Vash being together, a female voice broke it, semi-cocky with a smart-ass comment. "Well, well, well, look what the wind blew in town."  
  
It couldn't be her, Meryl thought. She was hesitant on moving, but Milly turned towards the voice and exclaimed, "Look, Meryl! It's Devi. Hi, Devi."  
  
It's her, Meryl thought to herself, sighing as she faced Devi. "Hey, Devi."  
  
Devi pulled a chair over from a nearby and sat down with them. She doesn't seem to be as thin as before, but not overly on the fat side. As Meryl looked at Devi's eyes, through her sunglasses, she could see that Devi's eyes weren't like regular human eyes. They were more cat-like and filled with a past that could match up to Vash's. Devi put a smile on her face that seems to be hiding something.  
  
"Hey, long time no see. Where's Vash?"  
  
Milly pointed to where Vash was playing with the kids in dodge ball. "Mr. Vash is over there playing dodge ball with the kids."  
  
Devi looked over and smiled at Vash's antics while playing dodge ball. He glanced over once, but had to do a double take. In the process, a kid who snagged the ball threw it right at Vash's head and succeeded. Vash staggered, but didn't fall over. He walked over, rubbing his head where the ball hit him, and sat down at the available seat that was across from Devi, between Milly and Meryl.  
  
"Devi! How have you been?"  
  
Devi let a small laugh out. "I'm fine, I was just here to try to get some money."  
  
Meryl faced her. "And how do you plan on getting the money?"  
  
"The main thing that'll be practically crowded at night," Devi stated. "The casino."  
  
"I didn't know you gambled," Milly said.  
  
"Ehh..I only know how to play poker. That's all really, nothing big. I'm going tonight if you want to join me."  
  
Vash was the first to answer before Meryl could say anything. "Of course, I'll join you at least."  
  
Meryl rolled her eyes at Vash's comment and then stated, "I'll come with." To make sure Vash doesn't do anything stupid.   
  
*****  
  
That night, Devi waited outside the crowded casino. The first person she saw was Meryl. She didn't appear to be happy to be there with Devi, she was more uncomfortable than anything. Devi started to hate the silence that was there, so she decided to break the silence.  
  
"So, how long have you known Vash?"  
  
Devi could see Meryl stiffen instantly with Devi speaking. "Uhh." Meryl started, "I've known Vash for quite some time actually. It's been so long, I actually lost track."  
  
She nodded and nibbled on her lip. Something in the back of her mind told her that Meryl likes Vash. Devi decided to ask. "Hey, Meryl. Do you like Vash in anyway."  
  
Again, Meryl stiffened, but more than last time. Devi could see Meryl's arm moved slightly with the tension. "I.I don't like him. Actually, I think he's annoying and very child-like in his actions."  
  
Devi suppressed a smile coming. She could tell that Meryl was lying by the slight redness from blushing on her cheeks. She's lying; she does like Vash. She's probably scared to admit it. Devi sniffed the air and caught Meryl's scent that was actually mixed with something different. Fear, but very small.  
  
Vash and Milly soon came and the four entered the casino. Devi headed straight for the poker tables with Vash close at her heels. She headed for a table that had all guys with a strong stench of booze on them. Actually, it didn't matter where Devi went in the casino, the smell of booze and smoke was so strong to her nose it almost made her want to puke. The guys looked up at her as she stood next to the table.  
  
"Hey, guys," Devi greeted. "Mind if I join in on the fun?" 


	13. High Voltage

GAH! Sorry for yet another long wait for this chapter! I have just one question for you people: What happened to reviewing on my fic!? I missed them. * sniff sniff* Anywho...I don't own Trigun as much as I would love too and the characters that are created for it are mine. Well, enjoy chapter 12!!!!  
  
**************************************************************************  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 12: High Voltage  
  
Captain Exsony sat in his room, writing up the report on the last town's destruction. He was frustrated with his job, especially when you have to follow and try to capture something that doesn't want to go. Exsony sighed and put his head in his hands and starred at the report he was working on.  
  
Then someone knocked on his door. Exsony looked at the door. Probably one of my men. "Come in."  
  
The door opened and one of his younger men came in. He was young, probably not even eighteen, with light brown hair and blue eyes. The young man snapped into attention in front of Exsony.  
  
"You may relax. Do you have anything on 5201?"  
  
He did relax, but not entirely. "Sir, the target has been located in the casino."  
  
"Hm..." Exsony thought a moment. "Apparently it is started to run low on money."  
  
Just then, his radio blared a burst of static and a voice of one of his other men came over the line. "Captain Exsony, there seems to be some activity at the town plant."  
  
Exsony picked up the radio. "The plant? It must be those anti-plant people who want the plants destroyed for some reason. Go check it out."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
*****  
  
The game that Devi joined lasted into the late night. The guys at the table soon dubbed her the 'Dark Queen of Hearts,' for her beauty and her card playing. Devi won many hands, even a few with the hardest kind of hand to get, a Royal Flush. People gathered around to watch the Dark Queen play professionally against amateurs. She had to admit, for playing only one time against a bunch of drunks, she was good, but she had two things going for her. One was that she wasn't drunk and two is that she knows how to read people and their expressions.  
  
Devi took a sip of her non-alcoholic drink as she look over her new hand. She had an ace up to four of hearts and her fifth card was the queen of spades, letting her have a partial straight. She would let the hand pass and she betted a little bit of money. The guy across of her won that hand and was starting to shuffle the deck for a new hand when Devi felt something weird surged within her body. Then she heard something in the back of her mind.  
  
~Help me.~  
  
Devi looked around came with the conclusion that no one else heard that. Then she felt slight pain spread throughout her body, it made her nauseated but she fought back the feeling of sickness. I guess I better call it a night.  
  
She placed her cards down and picked up her chips. "I'm going to call it a night."  
  
The guys groaned. One of them asked, "Are you going to be here tomorrow, Dark Queen?"  
  
"I highly doubt that, but thanks for the good time." Devi picked up her chips and headed to cash them in so she has money for a while. The total came out to be 110 billion double dollars. She couldn't believe that as she placed the money in various places of her trench coat and pack. Vash followed her the whole time, he seemed to be troubled by something.  
  
When Devi left the casino building, she realized that Vash was gone. Hmm... Apparently he went and joined Milly and Meryl, too bad that I didn't get the chance to say 'bye' like all those last times.  
  
To Devi's left, she saw a pulsing light that showed above the rooftops of the buildings. Something seemed to have called her in that direction. She shrugged and turned to the right to head to the inn, but it was the voice again that stopped her.  
  
~Help me.~  
  
Again, it seemed to be followed by a small wave of pain and nauseating feeling. She staggered as she faced in the opposite direction that she was heading.  
  
*****  
  
The officer that Captain Exsony told to go to the plant to see what's going on, got to the plant and showed the guard there that he was another guard from a different plant and told him his business. He headed straight for the control center, where he would be able to find out what is going on.  
  
"What's going on with the plant," he asked a female technician.  
  
The technician looked over her shoulder to see who was addressing her before she answered. "There's a small hole some where along the bulb's surface and that there's a small object inside. According the computers, the plant is going haywire because of it."  
  
The officer sighed. "This is not good. We better warn the people of the town."  
  
*****  
  
As Devi walked through the streets of the town, following the feeling that filled her and compelled her in the direction of the pulsing light. Devi will never be able to tell what is making her go in this direction, the only thing she can say is that her feet have a mind of their own at the moment.  
  
Beneath her feet, the ground started to shake slightly as she could feel the pain coming from the plant. People started to become curious as to what was happening when there was a stronger tremor that panicked the people, who started to scream and run in the opposite direction. Devi had to fight against the flow of people to get to her destination.  
  
Frustrated with not getting very far, she made her way over to the side and leapt high onto the rooftop of a building. Then she ran on the rooftops, heading for the plant which she was able to see clearly, light pulsing and guiding the way.  
  
*****  
  
Vash slowly made his way against the rushing crowd, trying to get to the plant which he felt was in trouble. He could feel that she was hurt and scared, even though she doesn't know what they mean. Shortly after he felt the plant's pain, he snuck away from Milly and Meryl to try to help it.  
  
As he was trying to get through the crowd, a shadow passed over him and the crowd and he looked up at its source. It was a dark, shadowy figure heading in the same direction as him, the only thing that was different was that he was on the rooftops and was getting way ahead of Vash.  
  
Who could that be and why is he heading in that direction?  
  
As he continued to fight against the flow of the crowd, Vash almost lost his footing a few times, but continued onward.  
  
At this rate, I'll never make it in time.  
  
*****  
  
Devi finally reached the plant, which was pulsing brightly with light. The area was clear, so she leapt into the street. The pain was stronger, almost making her fall to her knees and lose her dinner. Fighting the feeling to puke, Devi dashed into the building and ran to the control center. She would never be able to tell anyone how she managed to go directly to that particular spot, for she didn't even know.  
  
She looked at the computer screen that shows a diagnostic report. The only thing the report could tell her that it was going to blow. Devi turned and ran, looking for someway to enter the plant bulb. For some reason, she knows that she is able to enter, what'll happen, she doesn't know.  
  
After running down various hallways and going through twists and turns, Devi found the chamber. She reached for the door, but the pain that she was feeling earlier intensified and almost made her scream. Pushing back the pain, she entered the chamber. A pulsing light filled the gray room that was doing so for a while. In the room, the ceiling curved in and there were circles all over the floor. There is also a platform underneath were the ceiling was lowest. The ceiling was also pulsing with the light.  
  
Devi soon realized that the curved ceiling is actually a part of the plant. Discarding her boots and trench coat to the side, Devi padded to the platform and placed her hands on the bulb and her forehead against the surface.  
  
I just hope this works.  
  
*****  
  
Vash was finally able to run through the streets with little problems. Most of the people decided to try to get as far away from this town as possible. The strange part had to be that the plant has yet to explode. Something must be holding the plant back from exploding.  
  
He raced through the streets, skidding occasionally on the sand. Vash reached the outside of the plant. He sensed that there was something else there with the plant. Blinking in confusion, he wondered who else would be in there in the condition it is in.  
  
*****  
  
Devi felt odd a few moments, but for some reason she started to try to assure the plant that it was alright. No sooner did she start talking that poles started to come out from the floor. She could feel the surface of the bulb give way, allowing her to come in. Devi was a bit uneasy at first, but a voice came to her head.  
  
~Are you here to help me?~  
  
The voice was soft and melodious. It assured her in someway that it would be alright to come in. Devi bent her knees slightly and jumped into the bulb. She could feel herself float in the bulb, surrounded by a white light. Her skin crawled as she looked down and could see her skin change in color and texture, her outfit also changing with it. Devi then felt some pain towards her rear; she didn't look to see what it was that just happened to her.  
  
~Hello, half-sister.~  
  
Devi looked up to see a figure with wings. As it came closer, she realized that it was actually the plant. It skin shade was between green and white, seeming more botched with color. Its skin looked scaly. The eyes are big, and without pupils. The wings looked feathery and one of them was stretched out, the other one looked like it was wounded.  
  
The figure stopped in front of her. It was the plant. It was strange to Devi to see a plant and yet, feel comfortable being there. It was as though a part of her came from a plant like this.  
  
"What's wrong," she asked, but really didn't need to be answered. Devi turned and looked up to see where the problem was. She floated to the spot and inspected the area of damage. After a moment of checking the area, she spat a white sticky substance on the damaged area and smoothed the area out. This was the first time she did that, she was surprised that she even could do that.  
  
Devi turned and floated back down to the plant. "Are you hurt?"  
  
The plant looked confused, at least it seemed to Devi. ~Hurt?~  
  
She closed her eyes and gave a small smile. Devi floated around, searching for a wound of some sort. She found one, on the plant's wing. She spat a little bit of the white substance and placed some of it on the wound. The plant winced, but Devi reassured the plant.  
  
Devi started to feel fatigued from being in there and helping the plant. She wasn't used to such environment, and she was only in here for 10- 15 minutes. "I better be going."  
  
The plant looked up at her. ~Alright, half-sister.~  
  
Devi became suddenly confused as she headed out the same way she came in. Why did she call me 'half-sister?' It didn't take so long for her to get out, but in doing so apparently took up much of her energy. She could feel her skin crawl as it returned its natural state and she fell out of the bulb, rolling to the wall.  
  
She doesn't know why she felt so tired like this, but she crawled toward her things and managed somehow to get her trench coat on and slip her boots on, but nothing else. Darkness entombed her into a deep sleep within seconds. 


	14. What in the World?

*whacks the laptop which she uses * Darn, freaking thing! It wouldn't open up my first writing of this chapter, so now I have to re-write it. . And I was so close in finishing the chapter!! * sighs* Anywho.. I do not own Trigun or the characters from the series. I do own the characters that I created for this fic. Thank you, enjoy, and R & R!!!!  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
  
  
Chapter 13: What in the World?  
  
Vash ran to the plant to see and feel that the plant is no longer on the brink of exploding. Confused, Vash thought, She's this calm this fast? How did that happen?  
  
He entered the plant and searched it thoroughly, checking each room he came across. In the back of his mind, Vash wondered how in the world this could happen.  
  
It wasn't until Vash reached the last room, the chamber which enables access to the plant. He remembers that all too well in Ineperil City when Elizabeth trapped him inside. He entered the chamber and looked inside carefully. On the floor next to the door, was a still, black form. Vash knew who it was instantly.  
  
"Devi," Vash stated, slightly urgent. He carefully rolled her to her back and checked to make sure that she was still alive by checking her pulse. Luckily, Devi was still alive, but her breathing was shallow. He breathed a sigh of relief. The plant stayed quiet throughout the whole time Vash was there.  
  
Got to get her out of here. Vash carefully lifted Devi off the floor. Vash just couldn't believe that Devi was actually a plant, and he wondered why she didn't say anything about this. Surely, she would have known he was a plant, but it just confused him. Wouldn't he also be able to detect that she was a plant, or was she just hiding it that well.  
  
As he walked thorugh the streets, he noticed a few things that he didn't see before, but it was only a glance. Walking through the now quiet town, night completely covering it now, except for the shine from the three moons, Vash cradled Devi in his arms and made sure the nothing was dragging.  
  
Once to the inn, Vash took her to her room and carefully placed Devi on her bed. That was when he got a good look at her. Devi's dark hair shifted and revealed her strange-looking ears. Instantly, Vash stepped back, surprised at the sight of such a different sight. As he stepped back a few, Vash looked over Devi from a distance. He knew there was something different about Devi that made her different, but he just didn't know about this.  
  
Then he noticed her tail, black, long and sleek. It wasn't possible for a human to have a tail, or pointed ears, could it? Wait, Vash thought. What if she's the genetic experiment that escaped? That could be way she didn't have a name when we first met.  
  
Vash left the room, allowing Devi to rest on the bed.  
  
*****  
  
Vash joined Milly and Meryl in the saloon. Milly looked at Vash, slightly concerned while Meryl took a sip out of her drink.  
  
"Will Miss Devi be alright," Milly asked.  
  
"I hope so," Vash answered.  
  
Meryl looked at Vash, then Milly. "What was she thinking? Trying to help the plant! She could have been killed."  
  
Vash glanced over at Meryl. "She stopped the plant from destroying the town."  
  
Milly looked down at her hands. "Does that mean that she's a...plant?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Vash answered. "But there is something about her that makes her different. More different than me."  
  
Meryl finished off her drink, then stood. "Well, since its getting late. I'm going to bed. Its best that you two do so also."  
  
After Meryl left, Milly then finished her drink and said night to Vash, leaving him be by himself. Vash sat there, staring at his drink a moment before he too got up and headed upstairs. As he passed Devi's door, he opened it slightly to still see her laying on the bed, very still.  
  
I hope she's ok, Vash thought as he turned and went to his room for the night.  
  
*****  
  
Devi felt sore all over. Somehow, she got to a bed, but she doesn't remember doing so. The last thing she remembered was leaving the plant and then going unconscious and now she's in a bed with the morning sun shining across the room. She stretched in the bed, her claws reached and massaged a bit on the headboard. Devi stopped abruptly, cursing her feline side of her genetics.  
  
She climbed out of bed and took her trench coat off, setting it on the chair. Devi headed directly for the shower, unknowingly to her new alteration. When she reached the bathroom and stripped out of her unitard, Devi had to restrain herself fro screaming at the top of her lungs at her discovery. It would have been the last thing she would have expected to see at all.  
  
A long, black and sleek tail.  
  
She examined it well. Yup, its attached to me. I wonder how this happen. She thought as she got ready for a shower. Maybe it was from when I was in the plant, something in doing that must have triggered my genetic code and alter me even more. Damn, now I'm thinking like those scientists.  
  
After cleaning herself up, Devi redressed in the unitard and braided her hair. She then gathered up her things and headed downstairs to the saloon. Everyone in the saloon was having breakfast, but she didn't see Milly, Meryl or Vash. Sitting down at a table, Devi ordered a simple meal.  
  
Just as her meal came to her, Meryl came downstairs. She sat down across from Devi and ordered a cup of coffee. They sat there a moment before Meryl broke the silence with her question.  
  
"So, how are you feeling?"  
  
Devi looked up. "Oh, I feel fine, thank you."  
  
There was that uncomfortable silence again. Devi had a strange feeling that Meryl didn't like her very much, but she wasn't about to bring it up. Meryl had something to say, and she just couldn't help it but say what she wanted to say.  
  
"Why were you at the plant?"  
  
Devi looked to the side, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "I thought I could help it from not destroying the town."  
  
"You thought," Meryl echoed. "You could have killed yourself in trying to do so."  
  
"But I didn't, in fact, I saved the town and no one knows it."  
  
Meryl was about to continue ranting, but stopped as she looked at Devi. "Are you saying that you're a plant?"  
  
"Well, I'm not exactly human, Meryl. I actually don't know how to classify myself."  
  
With that statement, Meryl calmed down. Devi now started to play with her meal with her fork. She asked quietly, "You hate me, don't you Meryl?"  
  
Meryl looked up. Devi looked almost like someone who was lonesome. Meryl looked to the side as she took a sip of her coffee. "I never said that."  
  
"But you do, and I think it has to do with Vash also. Am I right?"  
  
Meryl huffed. "You're right."  
  
"Is it because you love Vash?"  
  
Meryl looked at Devi again. "How can you tell?"  
  
Devi set her fork down and took a sip out of her juice. "Well, I may not be human, but I'm able to read humans and how they feel. It's all in the eyes."  
  
"Wow," Meryl breathed. "It was that obvious, huh?"  
  
This time, Devi allowed herself to smile a little bit as she sat up and go back to eating. "Yeah. Just so you know, I like Vash, but not like you do. After all, you know him more than me. So if you want me gone, I'll stick around until we reach the next town, then you won't have to worry about me again."  
  
"No, don't do that again. Vash will probably worry about you again."  
  
Just then, Milly and Vash soon joined them and had their breakfasts. They discussed as to where to go next, and they agreed to head to December. Devi wanted to grab a few things before heading out. So they went their separate ways and said that they would leave in the afternoon.  
  
*****  
  
The day rolled on by and soon enough the afternoon showed itself to the town. Devi stood by her motorcycle, waiting for the others to join her. She got some more food, water, and a new unitard, the one she was wearing needed to be repaired and cleaned up.  
  
Milly, Meryl and Vash walked up the street and put what they got, which was food and water, into the back of their vehicle.  
  
"You ready, guys?" Devi asked.  
  
"Yeah," Meryl answered. "Then let's go!"  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
Ok, I think this is shorter than most of the other chappys. ^^ Well, hop you are enjoying this fic. Please R&R!!! Love and Peace! 


	15. My December

PHEW!! After a long time, I finally finish chapter 14! Sorry if it sucks at some parts. ^^;; I do not own Trigun or its charrys, I only own my charrys. LOVE AND PEACE!!  
  
**************************************************************************  
  
Chapter 14: My December  
  
Captain Exsony and his men reached the main research facility that his about 100 or so iles to the northwest to December just as the first sun of the double-suns was setting. The facility was huge and was the center of most of the first experimentation. This is where the prototype number 5201 was created before being sent to the facility that it escaped from.  
  
It was such a pity for Exony, after chasing 5201 for 1-3 months, he was arriving at the facility empty-handed. But he does have important information to give to the doctor, mainly about what happened at the last town, and he knows where 5201 will be for some time. It'll be in the town December, but 5201 has a few companions now, one of them being Vash the Stampede.  
  
The guard at the facility asked for id badges and Exsony showed his, at the same time explaining why he is here. The guard nodded and allowed him inside with his men. The guard lead the through the facility to the office of Dr. Lowcheski. Gently rapping on the door, the guard knocked on the door.  
  
After a moment, the same gray haired man appeared at the door. Nothing was different about him, except maybe a little less hair than before. "Ah, Jared," Dr. Lowcheski greeted, clearly looking at the guard. "What may I do for you?"  
  
Jared stiffened slightly before answering. "Dr. Lowcheski, Captain Exsony and his men are here to talk to you about the prototype 5201."  
  
Dr. Lowcheski finally looked up at Captain Exsony. Then he nodded and backed away from the door, allowing Exsony and his crew in. "You may go back to your post, Jared."  
  
"Yes, sir." Jared turned and retreated the way they had just came from.  
  
Dr. Lowcheski then closed the door and walked around the group so he is behind his wooden desk. "So what brings you here, Captian?"  
  
Exsony cleared his throat before speaking. "I have brought rather interesting news about the prototype 5201."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Exsony nodded and continued. "In the town of Creed, its plant was breaking down because something got inside the bulb. It was small, but still serious. The interesting part is that prototype 5201 managed to prevent the plant from exploding and destroying the town."  
  
"Hmm..." Dr. Locheski thought one moment. "That is quite interesting to hear. Especially since 5201 is only part plant and not pure plant. The extreme environment inside the bulb should have killed her, if not drained her completely of its strength."  
  
"Well, its alive, and one of its traveling companions is Vash the Stampede."  
  
"That is also very interesting news. Where is 5201 right now?"  
  
"Its probably about to enter December," Exsony answered.  
  
"December...you should be able to get it there."  
  
Exsony nodded. "I'll see what I can do."  
  
Dr. Lowcheski smiled. "Of course, and I have something that could help you in capturing 5201."  
  
*****  
  
Devi, Vash, Milly and Meryl entered the busy town of December was twilight started to settle in the sky. Some of the traffic let up, but most of it was still there. Devi separated herself from the group, telling them to go on ahead and get rooms and that she'll be back.  
  
Going on ahead, Devi carefully drove through the town to find a body shop until finally asking someone who looked friendly enough to ask. After asking, Devi had no problem in finding it. It was quite easy, only a few blocks down the main street and turn right and the shop was the second building on the left. At the body shop, Devi asked the worker to clean it, refuel it. After paying a hundred double dollars in advance, Devi asked to make sure that it was a good job. After doing so, Devi headed back to the inn that she past when they first came to December.  
  
*****  
  
In the saloon of the inn, Milly, Meryl and Vash sat around a table eating their meals. They have asked for three rooms and got the keys for them. It didn't take long for Devi to come back, but without the roar of the motorcycle to introduce her presence. She entered the inn and joined the trio at the table. A waitress came over to take her order and give her a glass of water.  
  
The table was silent a moment, everyone was eating their dinner as Devi's supper was delivered and Devi started to eat. That was when Meryl spoke. "So, Devi, where did you go?"  
  
Devi had to swallow her first bite before answering. "I found a body shop for my bike, it needs to be cleaned and refueled before I leave here."  
  
"Ah, when are you going to pick it up," Meryl asked before taking a sip out her water.  
  
"Tomorrow afternoon probably."  
  
The rest of the evening was silent, it was strange for it to be silent, especially for Vash. Vash seemed to be deep in thought about something. He was actually thinking on how and when to ask Devi about something, like her differences. Vash didn't want to bring this up in front of Milly and Meryl, Meryl would probably have a hissy fit.  
  
I'll ask her later, when we're alone, Vash thought to himself.  
  
*****  
  
Night fell and Devi was sitting on the roof, looking out at the nighttime sky. She's never seen the sky like this before, it was always one spot from her barred window. Wow, I would have never thought the night sky was so....big, Devi thought to herself. So many stars, I can barely keep track of them all when I try to count them.  
  
The wind stirred her long braid. The wind also helped in masking Vash's approach from behind. He stood watching her, he can sense her amazement of the sky. It's as though she never seen it on top of the roof before.  
  
Vash stepped closer before asking, "May I join you?"  
  
Devi looked over her shoulder. "Sure, there's plenty of space, here."  
  
Sitting down next to her, Vash made himself comfortable on the edge of the roof. Its been a long time since Vash really looked at the stars, very long time.  
  
After what seemed to be an eternity of just staring at the stars, Vash finally spoke. "Beautiful night, huh?"  
  
The comment brought a small smile to Devi's lips. This was quite awkward for her. She cared for Vash, but not the same way that Meryl did. Meryl has known Vash for much longer than Devi has and probably ever will. Devi was more of a loner, and that was more because of her past and not growing up around other people all of her life. She's only been out in the world for six or seven months.  
  
"Yeah," Devi agreed.  
  
Vash seemed hesitant in speaking tonight, something seemed to be on his mind. Devi could tell by his body language, more than by glancing at his thoughts. "Is there something on your mind, Vash?"  
  
"Huh?" Vash glanced over at Devi, his face was slightly red, but you wouldn't been able to tell in the darkness of the night. Then he said, "Yeah..I guess so."  
  
"What is it," Devi asked, curious as to what Vash was thinking.  
  
"Well," Vash started, then continued, "Its about what happened after the scare with the bulb going haywire."  
  
Devi's eyebrows rose up a bit and her jaw went a little bit slack. "Uh...what about that?"  
  
Vash took a deep breath through his nose before answering. "Um..I was the one who got you in the bed afterwards."  
  
Devi blinked at the wording of the sentence. It didn't sound right, but she knew what he was talking about. "Okay.."  
  
"Yeah," Vash continued. " When I set you down, I saw something not quite right."  
  
What is he talking about? My tail? Devi asked herself.  
  
Uneasy, Vash still went on. "I saw a tail, well, I think it was a tail. It was long, black and sleek."  
  
It was Devi's turn to blush. "That would be mine, I actually got it recently."  
  
Vash looked at Devi, clearly confused. "How did you get it recently?"  
  
"When I saved the plant." I guess I better tell him. "It has something to do with who I am. Or more like what I am."  
  
Seeing Vash's even more confused looked, Devi continued herself. "You remember about a bounty sent out for an escaped genetic experiment?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well," Devi took a breath to calm herself. "I'm that genetic experiment. I'm actually called 5201."  
  
"Wow," Vash breathed. "That would explain why you didn't have a name when we first met."  
  
"Unless you consider numbers a name."  
  
Vash smiled a bit. "And I thought I was the only one with a secret like that."  
  
Devi looked at Vash. "Oh? How come?"  
  
"I'm a plant."  
  
Blinking, Devi had a slight surprise look on her face. "You mean, you're like one of those bulbs?"  
  
Vash shrugged. "Except that I can walk."  
  
Devi snickered. "Obviously."  
  
The wind picked up a bit and Devi's hair whirled a bit more. "So," Vash started. "What are you a genetic experiment of?"  
  
"I'm a hybrid of wild sand cat, a very dangerous spider, plant and human."  
  
Vash jerked his head towards her at the mention of being part plant. "Are you saying that there are people who actually know that plants are living creatures?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They sat in silence another moment, then Vash said. "I knew there was something about you that was different. And you know what?"  
  
"What," Devi asked.  
  
"I like you for that."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Vash slid over a bit closer. "Yeah."  
  
Devi suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden. Vash got a bit more closer, looking directly into Devi's eyes. "Actually," Vash said, his breath brushing sweetly against Devi's cheeks. "I never felt like this towards anyone."  
  
Then silently, their lips connected and Vash's arms wrapped around Devi's body, holding her there. The sweetness of the kiss lasted for sometime, until Devi regained her senses and gently broke up the kiss.  
  
"I'm sorry," Devi apologized, "but I can't."  
  
Vash opened his sea-green colored eyes and look into Devi's golden ones. "How come?"  
  
"Because there someone else," Devi started.  
  
Vash pulled back. "Oh,"  
  
Devi continued though. "Who is able to care and love you more than I could."  
  
Vash looked at Devi again. "What?"  
  
Ignoring Vash's question, Devi said. "I'm leaving in the morning, but right now, I just need to go for a walk for a bit."  
  
With that said, Devi pushed herself off the edge and dropped herself into the darkness. She ignored whatever Vash was saying. Devi needed to think some things over.  
  
Devi walked down the dark, barren street. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone following her. The next thing she knew, Devi was hit in the head hard and she saw and felt nothing. 


	16. Myself

*sighs * I finally got to finishing this chapter!! I hope you all like this, its getting rather interesting if I say so myself. Well, typically I do not own the Trigun charas, only my own and LOOK! There's more of them! Lol Anyways...here's the next chapter! R&R!!  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
Chapter 15: Myself  
  
Vash's sleep was restless. He couldn't fall asleep without wondering about Devi and wondering about what happened to her in the past. Vash now knew something about Devi that no one else probably knows of, but still couldn't believe it. He only knew that Devi was the genetic experiment, 5201, that escaped months ago with a bounty larger than Vash's. After that, Devi couldn't go into detail.  
  
'She was hurt just by telling me what she really was,' Vash thought as he lay on his back on the bed. 'But it left me with many questions: what is the purpose of the genetic experimentation? And what is she a hybrid of? That is, if she is a hybrid.'  
  
Giving up when he saw that one of the two suns had rose into the sky, Vash got out of the bed and headed to the saloon. Passing Devi's room, Vash stopped after a few steps. He stood there a moment, debating on whether or not to see if Devi was awake, let alone there.  
  
Sighing, Vash walked over to the door and knocked on it. He waited a moment before calling out Devi's name. Still getting no response, Vash carefully tried the doorknob, and surprisingly enough, it was unlocked. Being careful, Vash entered Devi's room. The room was strangely empty, only having Devi's belongings lying next to the bed.  
  
'Something is definitely not right at all,' Vash thought as he walked through the rest of the room. There was no sound of running water or anything of the sort. The bed was also untouched.  
  
'Did she stay out that long by herself and not come back?' Vash asked himself as he headed for the saloon and ordered his breakfast.  
  
'Where did she go? And is she all right?'  
  
*****  
  
Her head was pounding with pain, but it was already subsiding, very slowly. Beneath her, Devi could feel a hard, cold surface and it didn't feel like she was wearing the same clothing last night. Devi shifted on the floor, eyes opening to show her a blurry ceiling.  
  
Blinking, she thought to herself, 'Man, what happened last night? I hope that someone got the number of that vehicle that hit me...wait...what was I hit with?'  
  
Sitting up, Devi looked down to see what exactly she was wearing and where exactly she was. She saw that she was wearing white pants that were loose and a white shirt. Devi instantly knew as she made the final confirmation by looking around the room she was sitting in at the moment.  
  
'Shit, I got caught and I'm back at the facility. Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!' Devi thought as she slammed her fist on the ground for the last part.  
  
"Now, now," a voice said at the door, which was one of the scientists. "We don't want one of our own to get hurt before going back into experimentation."  
  
Devi glared at the scientist behind the door. But instead of him going away like she was wishing, he came in. "But first, let me introduce a few friends of mine."  
  
Confused beyond belief, Devi got up to follow the scientist. She could easily kill him, locate her things and escape, but there was something strange about the place. She sniffed the air carefully and confirmed that she wasn't in the same facility, but a different one, and that there was various mixture of scents, not human ones, but something like.....her. It was strange to Devi, she wasn't restrained or anything like that. Devi looked around, memorizing every last detail of the way she went, it would prove useful to her in the future.  
  
The scientist opened a door and allowed Devi to enter. In the room, Dr. Lowcheski and Captain Exsony sat quite comfortably in their seats. They looked up at her and watched her walk over to the empty seat and sat down. Exsony actually looked quite uncomfortable seeing Devi there, unrestrained.  
  
"Experiment 5201, Dr. Lowcheski." The scientist stated simply, indicating to Devi.  
  
Dr. Lowcheski nodded. "I can take it from here, with the help of Captain Exsony."  
  
Exsony nodded solemnly. "We'll take it back to our facility and get it out of your hands. Thank you for providing accommodations for it and us."  
  
"That is no problem, as long as I do get some percentage of the thing's bounty."  
  
It was Dr. Lowcheski's turn to nod. "Of course, not at all a problem. We'll be going now."  
  
"Ok," the scientist led them out of the room and towards the garage area.  
  
Now Devi was restrained. Exsony quite roughly put some handcuffs on her and half-chucked her into the back of their vehicle. Devi hit her shoulder hard on the floor and she gave a small yelp from it. She could barely hear the conversation between the doctor and the rough captain, but she didn't care. She'll escape again, and maybe this time kill whoever tries to stop her.  
  
*****  
  
Captain Exsony drove the vehicle while the pudgy doctor sat in the passenger seat. "Where are we heading to, Doctor?"  
  
"To the Jenora Rock research facility, I have to check on my children there," Dr. Lowcheski explained.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
*****  
  
After driving for endless hours, they finally pulled up the facility. Devi was fast asleep from the heat and was rudely awaken by Captain Exsony roughly grabbing her bare foot, hard.  
  
"Get up, 5201."  
  
Devi yawned and stretched, popping her spine a bit at the same time. She was rewarded with a hit in the ankle.  
  
"Let's move it, thing!"  
  
Carefully getting off the vehicle, Devi glared at Exsony after he turned around and head for the facility, which Lowcheski was already in the lead. The facility was located near a huge windmill that overlooked a town. Devi followed, hoping that someone would just shoot her and get it over with. She looked up at the facility she was going to enter. It was quite large, bigger than the facility she was at. It even looked nicer from the outside.  
  
They entered the facility and were met up by a guard, who escorted them to their destination, wherever that was in this huge facility. It was clean and pristine, virtually spotless. 'Ok, this is getting too much like the facility I escaped from,' Devi thought to herself as they walked through the halls. She tried her best to remember how many turns they took. One left, straight, two rights and another left and finally into a huge laboratory, or was it two lefts, a right and a straight into a huge laboratory, she couldn't remember now that they've reached their destination.  
  
"You better put that thing in a cell," the guard gruffly said, motioning to Devi.  
  
Dr. Lowcheski nodded in agreement. Then Devi was roughly grabbed on the arm, uncuffed, then was practically thrown into the cell. Devi picked herself from the ground.  
  
"So, where are my children," Dr. Lowcheski asked.  
  
The guard responded, "They should be here soon, with your associate, Dr. Glasear."  
  
"Ah, Dr. Glasear, I remember him well."  
  
Then an old man entered the room, followed by about ten other people, all of which didn't seem quite human, especially the one that was crouched low to the ground and have a long, thin tail. Devi blinked at them. 'Are they just like me!? Wait, they couldn't be...could they?'  
  
And she was right in a sense. These humanoids were wearing regular clothing, most of them consisting of jeans and shirt. Plus, it seemed as though they were being treated like...regular people. It was too strange to Devi to see this, considering on how she was always treated in the past. She didn't even get regular clothing like they do.  
  
"Ah, Alex, Jason and the others, how are we doing today," Dr. Lowcheski asked as he was tackled hugged by a young girl who looked very rodent-like, right down the long thin, hairless tail.  
  
"Lowie-sama," the rodent-girl screeched. "It's so good to see you!"  
  
'Lowie-sama' rustled the girl's hair a moment. "Yes, it is good to see you too, Pixy."  
  
Pixy giggled and clamored off of the doctor. Then a tall guy, who's hair is very short and matches the rest of his rather short fur, walked over to the doctors. 'Wait...FUR!?' Devi thought as she crawled over to the bars for a closer look at these new arrivals. 'Ok, they are definitely like me, but they aren't at the same time. Strange...' Devi noticed that the others had tails, cat-ears and short fur, but they all weren't the same, especially Pixy, the rodent-girl.  
  
"Alex, how are the newest alterations going for you and the others," Dr. Lowcheski asked.  
  
'Alterations,' Devi thought to herself, 'I wonder if they have to do with something with me? Right now, I'm not sure at all. I always thought I was the only one like this.'  
  
"We're all holding up fine, a bit rough for the first day or so, but we got over it quickly," answered the sandy-blond, who's apparently Alex.  
  
Then a female, who clearly was altered with feline genes, walked over to where Devi is caged up. She has long wavy hair that is a dark orange color and has black sploches. The hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail to reveal very-cat-like gold eyes and pointed cat-like ears. The woman's long tail twitched with slight annoyance as she sniffed the outside of Devi's cage. "Who is this...human?"  
  
"Oh, she's not exactly human, Leola." Dr. Lowcheski corrected, "She's 5201, the first of your kind."  
  
Leola, the cat-woman, stepped back. "How can she be it? She's not complete like us, except for the tail maybe, but she still looks too human."  
  
Complete? That was different to Devi, how can she not be complete? She's able to run really fast, climb walls, and dodge bullets almost effortlessly. What did she have to do to be 'complete?' Devi looked at the others then got the idea. They aren't human at all, she was still partly human yet, but Devi knew she wasn't completely human at all. It was getting very strange to her.  
  
Dr. Lowcheski leaned back in his chair. "That's because I haven't gotten the chance to do the final step, which is the other reason why we've come here. To finish off the first of the hybrids and show that Vash the Stampede he can be defeated."  
  
Vash the Stampede. Devi almost forgot about him and the others. She brought a hand up to her lips, remembering the last thing that really happened prior to her leaving him behind. Devi knows she could never get in between Vash and Meryl. She knew Meryl loved Vash more than Devi could. Meryl would have actually killed her if she saw what happened between those two. She remembered clearly what Vash said to her, about never really feeling the way he felt towards her. And she also remembered the last thing she said to Vash.  
  
' "I'm leaving in the morning, but right now, I just need to go for a walk for a bit."'  
  
'Oh, Vash, I'm so sorry for not coming back,' Devi thought as she turned around and leaned against the bars. 'I hope you are doing alright.' 


	17. Forgotten

YAY! New chapter!! Thank you all for reveiwing to me! I love them very much!! I hope there are people out there who are actually still reading this fic. I really like this. And now things have turned for the worse: Devi's being altered and Vash and the gang are heading to a new town! Will Vash ever see Devi again, or is she lost forever? And its become worse for me! Don't fret everyone, I've been grounded from the comp for some time and God only knows when I'll be able to be on more often. Wish me luck in these trying times.  
  
Well, I do not own Trigun, though, as usual, I wish I did. I do own the series on DVD and the kuroneko plushie...if that's enough.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Chapter 16: Forgotten  
  
Vash set Devi's bag next to him as he sat down at the bar with a beer in front of him. He already explained to Meryl and Milly that he was worried about Devi because she didn't come back at all last night. Meryl huffed away, seemingly unworried about Devi at all and said that Devi was big enough to take care of herself. Milly decided to leave Vash alone and went to the market to get some food and pudding. He just wanted to be by himself before they left for the next town.  
  
"Hey, what are you doing here moping around?"  
  
Vash looked over his shoulder to see that it was a man with short, unruly black hair and is wearing a priest outfit. It was a very familiar man to Vash, it was Nicholas D. Wolfwood.  
  
Vash smiled a sad smile. "Wolfwood, haven't seen you in a while."  
  
Wolfwood smiled a big one as he sat down next to Vash, setting his cross next to him. "Yeah, well, that still doesn't answer my question."  
  
Laughing nervously, Vash put a hand behind his head and sweatdropped. "Oh yeah. Well, the girls and I were about to head out to the next town."  
  
"The girls are here too? Wow, you've lost your touch."  
  
They both laughing this time as the bartender brought Wolfwood a beer that he didn't even order yet. Wolfwood took a sip out of the beer, then took notice of the bag at Vash's feet. He knew that sure wasn't Vash's actual bag.  
  
Wolfwood nodded toward the bag. "Whose bag is that, Vash? I know you aren't one to buy new bags."  
  
"Uh....it's a friend of mine that asked me to watch it for her as she was out on an errand...yeah."  
  
Wolfwood wasn't convinced. "Yeah, right."  
  
"Mr. Priest, is that you?"  
  
Vash and Wolfwood turned to see Milly enter with two bags of groceries. Wolfwood raised a hand to wave hi. "Hey, Big Girl!"  
  
Milly set the groceries on a nearby table and stood in front of them, a huge smile on her face as always. "What brings you here, Mr. Priest?"  
  
Wolfwood shrugged. "I was just wondering and I came in and saw Vash sitting here. He looked a bit bummed, so I joined him."  
  
"Yeah, well, a friend of his didn't come back last night and now he's worried about her."  
  
"HER!?" Wolfwood shouted. "Vash, you didn't say that the pack belonged to a girl!"  
  
Vash laughed nervously and put a hand behind his head. "Well, that information kinda slipped I guess. You know how I get when I'm drinking."  
  
"Not really, but I know how Big Girl gets when she drinks," Wolfwood answered, sending a playful wink to a blushing Milly. Then he took another swig from his glass.  
  
"Aw, not what I really wanted to hear," Meryl said from the stairs.  
  
Vash swiveled in his chair. "Done with the report? Can we leave now?"  
  
Meryl held up a small rectangular package. "Yes, I just have to mail this. I'll meet you guys out in the car."  
  
Vash and Wolfwood chugged down their drinks and paid for them almost sychronously. The girls looked at them weird as they done this. Then the guys swirled in their chairs to face the girls.   
  
"So where are we heading to?" Vash asked anxiously.  
  
*****  
  
Devi woke up in the most uncomfortable position she could ever get into. She was woken up by someone banging on the bars of her cell. Devi rolled over and glared at whoever was making such noise and disturbing her sleep. It was the rodent-girl, Pixy, with bright eyes and an equally bright smile on your face.  
  
"Good, you're awake now. I'm going to get Lowie-sama."  
  
Pixy galloped off down the hall as Devi stood and began her stretch routine. She was just finishing and had an urge to do a few tumbles and she did. What Devi didn't know that one of the hybrids from yesterday was watching her. This one was different from the one named Alex, but he looked fairly alike. His hair and fur were slightly darker than Alex's, almost a tawny color, and long enough to be pulled back into a short ponytail. His eyes are a dark, cat-like brown and look almost caring. He has a white shirt on top and a pair of dark blue jeans that cover part of his boots. This long tail softly curled so it would not drag on the ground.  
  
"Hello. You are quite agile for only being partially altered."  
  
Devi gave this cat-man an almost flirtly smile. She found this one to be quite cute despite the alterations. "Well, I have been working on it for sometime, years to be exact."  
  
He blinked. "So you do actually speak. I was beginning to think that you were mute, you didn't speak at all yesterday."  
  
Devi's smile disappated and she turned around. "Its just habit of me to not speak in front of the scientists, most of the time if I did, they'd discipline me."  
  
"Oh, say do you have a name? I know they call you by a number, but I heard of you escaping and I was also curious about its like out there."  
  
Cocking her head to the one side, Devi turned to face this guy. He was quite different from the others, especially that cat-girl who called her human. "Well, my name is Devi, what about yours?"  
  
"Jason, I was in this room just last night."  
  
She nodded. "Ah, I remember, are you related to Alex or something, you two look alike."  
  
Jason nodded, almost as though he was embarrassed. "Well, we are twin brothers."  
  
"That would do it."  
  
Just then, Dr. Lowcheski entered the room. "Ah, good morning, Jason. Seeing if 5201 was awake now, huh?"  
  
"Uh...yeah, I was doing just that."  
  
Dr. Lowcheski opened the door to Devi's cell and handcuffed her. "Now we're off to finish what we started with you, 5201."  
  
Devi looked over her shoulder to see Jason give her a small wave of his pawed hand. She smiled back at him before leaving the room. Devi knew that was about to happen to her, they were going to finish the alterations to her. She bowed her head down, she didn't want that to happen, Vash wouldn't know if it was really her or not. Devi was afraid that Vash wouldn't care for like he did before she left. She was also afraid of how she was going to get herself out of this mess. Nothing was going right for her.  
  
Before she knew it, they've reached the lab that they were going to finish the alterations in. Dr. Lowcheski uncuffed her and before she had they chance to react and escape, one of the nearby doctors stuck a needle in her. The serom in the needle was actually a very strong tranquilizer. Devi was out cold in a matter of moments.  
  
The doctors took that opportunity to strip Devi and set her in a large capsule. They then stuck tubes in various areas and one behind her neck, like they did when she was only an infant. The DNA serom would enter into her through those tubes and are programmed to alter her DNA. Then the doctors sealed the capsule and filled it with a protien nutrient mix, capable of sustaining her for several months, which is all that they needed to complete this.  
  
Then one of the final doctors set the time Devi would be in the capsule and they left her be, sealing the room so no one can bother with their experiment.  
  
*****  
  
Vash was bored out of his mind with this ride. Wolfwood was sitting next to him and was getting quite annoyed with his complaints. Milly and Meryl were sitting in the front seat, Meryl driving, and they were quite content with talking to themselves. They were giggling at some joke one of them said. It actually has been a while, a long while, since Meryl giggled or laughed for that matter. Vash stopped complaining and watched Meryl. This was quite a different side of her that Vash never gets to see everyday. Most of the time she was bashing him upside the head because of something stupid that he's done.  
  
He yawned. "How much longer until we are at the next town?"  
  
"Not soon enough with your whining," Wolfwood answered, then wapped him upside the head.  
  
"Will yoiu two shut up," Meryl ordered from the driver's seat, "Trust me, we'll be at the next town by sunset."  
  
"Praise the lord," Wolfwood responded. "The sooner we're at the town, the sooner I can get away from you, Needle-noggin."  
  
"More like the sooner we reach town," Vash added, "the sooner we get to drink all the beer we want!"  
  
They both laughed, but Vash's laughter died rather quickly. He was sensed something. Something strange and weak at the same time. The general direction was blurry and he couldn't pinpoint the exact spot it was coming from. And, all in all, it reminded it of someone familiar.  
  
'Devi....is that you?'  
  
*****  
  
Inside the tranquil Devi, Devi was alert as a cat on the prowl. She could sense everything, but not in detail. Devi seemed...connected with all of the plants on this desert planet, all were crying in pain of some sort. All of the plants were...dying. She could feel their energy being used by the humans of this planet to power their homes. There was one that moved about and felt very near and familiar to her.  
  
Vash...  
  
Devi could also feel the humans' whereabouts. It was strange to feel the humans, their pain, their energy, their love, their sorrow, everything. It almost overpowered her to feel such things as these. She was also able to find where there were people who were having fights with others and people who love one another, but are afraid to show it.Three of these humans were moving with Vash, two of them felt very familiar.  
  
Milly, Meryl...who's the third person?  
  
Then Devi felt a something very close. It was the hybrids, all seven of them. Each one was different from one another. Three or four had some feline DNA in them while another had rodent DNA. A few of their DNA signatures even matched with the plants. Including hers.  
  
'Wait, if the plants are able to send me what they are feeling and have DNA signatures...wouldn't that mean that they are...living?'  
  
Something coursed through her veins and knocked her out futher into the unconscious state that she's in. 


	18. One Step Closer

AHHH!!!! I haven't updated in so long and I hope everyone is still following this fic! *mutters * Plus I hope I don't get pelted with rotten fruit while I'm here. *dives behind the curtain as people chuck old fruit at her * Well, (as usual) I do not own Trigun, only my charries!! ^_^ Love and Peace!!!!  
  
*************************************************************************  
  
Chapter 17: One Step Closer  
  
Milly, Meryl, Vash and Wolfwood have been traveling from town to town for about a month now, staying in each one for a few days before moving on. Now, they've made their stay at an inn in the town called Timvel. At the point, Vash was getting quite frustrated with his search for Devi. Every town that they've been to, Vash has asked various people if they seen her and so far, he's been very unsuccessful.  
  
'Ugh, Devi what happened to you? Where did you go?' Vash thought. It was the same questions that entered his mind whenever he finished a round of questioning the people of the town. It was very frustrating for him, not knowing where Devi is and not even having a slight clue. For all he knew, she could be dead, but that wasn't something Vash wanted to think about at the moment.  
  
Wolfwood came over and sat at the table, which Vash was sitting at. Vash looked like he spaced out, again. Ever since Wolfwood joined the gang again and heard that Vash was worried about someone, Vash was just weirder than he even remembered him.  
  
"Hey, you want to talk about what's on your mind? If you have one that is," Wolfwood asked as he lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth.  
  
Vash blinked then looked at Wolfwood with sad, worried eyes. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"  
  
Wolfwood sighed, then smacked Vash across the face. "Come on, needle- noggin, you've been acting like this since I've joined you guys again. I see you everyday in every town, asking the people about this person you're looking for and at the end of them come back here and get a few drinks and be depressed. The girls and I are worried about you. Now what is on your little mind, Vash?"  
  
Keeping his head to the side after Wolfwood slapped him hard, Vash listened. Wolfwood was right. He has been like this for about a month now and his closest friends have been worried about him. Vash sighed and bowed his head down to stare into his beer.  
  
"I guess its about time you should know," Vash said. "Get the girls and I'll explain everything about Devi."  
  
*****  
  
Deep inside the research facility, still inside the capsule that contains the sleeping form of Devi, Devi had lost track of time since she's been placed in the capsule. But all in all, she's been rather busy unconsciously. Devi had found a way to speed up the alteration process when she's unconsciously alert of herself. She managed to tap into her adrenaline stores to speed up the process. When she does so, Devi can feel a burning sensation everywhere, from her skin to her ears and her rear end. It was a strange sensation and it would just get even worse before Devi ends up putting herself under once more. Devi only hoped that is was all part of the process.  
  
There was another thing during some of the times she more 'conscious,' someone was occasionally entering the room. Devi could have sworn that she felt the doctors lock it when they left, maybe she was just imagining it at the time. The mental signature of this person was quite familiar to her, but Devi just couldn't put a name or a face to the signature. It was quite weird, she knew it, but at the same time didn't. Today was apparently one of the day's this person decided to visit because it was in the room. The only thing was that something was different, the person decided to make contact with her telepathically, as though he knew that she was conscious.  
  
*Hello, Devi, * the person said.  
  
Devi recognized the voice. *Jason? *  
  
*That's right. * Jason smirked. *I see that you've been busy. You found a way to speed up the process and you are now over halfway done with your alteration. *  
  
Mentally, Devi smirked. *That's good in my book. Say, how long has it been since I've been in this thing? *  
  
*Only a month, and you're supposed to be in here for six months. Dr. Lowcheski will be surprised. *  
  
*Don't tell him, * Devi said, almost pleading. If he did that, then everything would be ruined.  
  
*I won't, * the tone of his voice was full of reassurance.  
  
Then Devi remembered something. *Wait, didn't the scientists lock the doors to this room? *  
  
*Umm...yeah. I've found a way to sneak in here. *  
  
Devi mentally giggled. *I realized that. *  
  
Jason stepped toward the capsule that contained Devi. He placed a furred hand on the glass as though to touch Devi's peaceful looking face. *I better get going before someone finds out that I disappeared. *  
  
*Alright, see you later. *  
  
*Bye. *  
  
*****  
  
Wolfwood and the Insurance girls stared at Vash in amazement. Vash just finished explaining everything about Devi. He told them everything that Devi had told them and how much he was worried for her.  
  
"Woah," Wolfwood breathed. "I never knew that scientists were capable of such things."  
  
Vash nodded. "I know. I was quite amazed myself when she first told me, which was just before she left."  
  
"It was no wonder that she didn't have a name when we first met then," Milly added.  
  
Meryl stood, a determined look in her face. "We just have to work harder at finding her."  
  
"But Meryl, you were always saying how she is capable of taking care of herself, what changed your mind," Milly asked.  
  
Meryl faced Milly. "I didn't know that Devi was an escaped scientific experiment, it completely changes everything."  
  
"For once the short one has a point," Wolfwood commented.  
  
Meryl glared at Wolfwood. "And as long as we don't play around..."  
  
"Or mope," Wolfwood added, looking particularly at Vash.  
  
"Right," Meryl agreed, "Or mope, we can and should find Devi in no time."  
  
Vash nodded. "But there's one problem to that."  
  
"What?" Meryl and Wolfwood said.  
  
"I have no clue where to look or anything."  
  
Meryl and Wolfwood both fell over while Milly's usual smile turned into a look of worry.  
  
"That's great," Meryl said as she got up. Wolfwood followed suit.  
  
*****  
  
Devi still was unconscious in her capsule. She had to contact Vash somehow, but she doesn't know where Vash is and she's not about to try to do a telepathic link with him, afraid that someone would sense her and then everything would be ruined. Then she felt something that was warm and inviting. It surrounded her mentally and its warmth spread throughout her body. Then a soft, melodious voice sounded in her head.  
  
~Hello, half-sister.~  
  
It was a plant. Not the one from that town that she saved, but it was still a plant. She wondered something.  
  
~Hey, uh, you wouldn't be able to get in contact with Vash, could you?~  
  
Devi could sense the plant smiling, if it knew what a smile was that is. ~Of course, half-sister, Vash is our brother.~  
  
~Oh, well, could you do that for me? Tell him what direction to go to and such? I think he's worried about me.~  
  
~Vash is worried about you. He cares for you. And of course, I'll get Vash going in the right direction.~  
  
Devi smiled, she wondered to herself if the plant knew what it was talking about. ~Thank you, and hurry, please!~ 


	19. Pushing Me Away

Phew!! This chapter is long!! Anyways, I hope you like this fic as much as I like making it (despite the obstacles that get in the way.) Anywho...I don't own Trigun like I oh-so-wish I did, but I only own the chars created for this fic. Love, peace and fanfiction!!  
  
Oh yeah, don't forget to read my other fics!! I love reviews!!!! (hint hint *poke poke *)  
  
****************************************************************  
  
Chapter 18: Pushing Me Away  
  
Knives awoke in his bulb, looking out into the part of the ship that he is located in. His body completely healed, Knives worked his way out of the bulb. He slipped into his space suit and headed for the lab, which he hoped that the DNA sample would be completely finished and he can then finally figure out what exactly that one vermin meant when she said that she 'wasn't human.'  
  
Walking through the cool-tempered ship, Knives turned left and entered the lab. Luckily for him, the DNA scan was complete and awaiting for him to look over the results. Smiling slightly, Knives walked over to the console and pressed a few buttons to bring up the results of the scan. His eyes moved rapidly back and forth as he read the results and was quite surprised at his findings.  
  
That vermin was quite right about herself, she wasn't human, or at least she's part human. But what really fascinated him was the fact that she's part PLANT. Which would mean only one thing: there are people out there who know that plants are living things.  
  
With this realization, Knives slowly became angry. There were people out there, who knew that plants are living things, and yet they haven't told the public this or tried anything to stop it! And worse yet, they were apparently using its DNA for experimentation and genetic alteration.  
  
Knives' eyes grew wide quickly with that last part. Genetic alteration. If that means that people can be genetically altered to be plants.... he could learn how to do this and thus, change the future of this retched dustball and create the Eden that he's always wanted.  
  
'Hmm.' Knives thought as he turned and walked out of the lab. 'It makes me wonder whether or not there are more of these types of vermin. They could be able to help change the future of this planet. Yes, that can definitely work in my advantage.'  
  
*****  
  
Vash quickly sat up in his bed. He had just received a message from the town plant that apparently been relayed through all the others. Devi was in trouble, AND he knows that he's been heading in the wrong direction the entire time.  
  
Vash snagged his clothing and started to yank them on. He lost his balance trying to pull on his pants and he fell over, making a huge ruckus and waking Wolfwood up. Wolfwood appeared in his nightclothes and looked down at the very wide-awake Vash on the floor.  
  
"What are you doing, needle-noggin," Wolfwood asked between his yawns. "Its three-thirty in the morning. Are you afraid that someone is going to take all the fresh donuts before the bakery even opens?"  
  
Vash stood and pulled his black shirt on. "No, nothing at all like that. I know where Devi is, and she's in trouble. Big trouble."  
  
Wolfwood face vaulted. He was now very wide awake too as he half- shouted, "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"  
  
"Because you started to speak before I had a chance to say anything." Vash snagged his red trench coat and swung it on as there was a knock at the door. Wolfwood disappeared into his room as Vash opened the door to reveal the girls on the other side.  
  
"Mr. Vash," Milly yawned. "It's certainly a bit early to be dressed, don't you think?"  
  
Vash nodded. "I know that, but we have to move out now! I know where Devi is!"  
  
"What," said the two girls in unison. It didn't take much longer for Vash to explain the rest and within a few seconds for everyone to be ready and chucking their things in the vehicle. Meryl paid for the rooms and for a few coffees and a saylon tea for Milly.  
  
"Where are we headed, Vash," Meryl asked as she sat in the front seat and Vash started the vehicle and headed out of town. Right towards December.  
  
He looked over at Meryl a moment. "To December. Or at least its outskirts."  
  
"December!?" Everyone, except for Vash said in unison.  
  
Vash nodded. "It seems to me that we've been heading in the wrong direction for sometime."  
  
"But that's also about a week's work of driving just to get there," Wolfwood exclaimed.  
  
"Which is why I'm driving," Vash said coolly before practically slamming his foot on the gas pedal.  
  
*****  
  
Devi was able to feel it in herself: She was complete with the alteration. It had been about a week or so since she's talk to the plants into contacting Vash. Hopefully they've contacted him and he was just about here, it was the night she was going to escape.  
  
'I can't believe it, I'm going to escape from these people a second time,' Devi thought to herself as she pumped adrenaline through her system to wake her up, it took her a good two minutes until she was completely awake and had control of her body again. The protein nutrient slowed her movement as she slowly worked at her hands, elbows and shoulders, even popping a bit of her upper back. She looked down at herself for a moment. Her hair grew allot since she was first placed in, so much that it curled up to the middle of her shins after reaching the bottom of the capsule. Looking at her forearms and hands, Devi found a short layer of black fur and her palms were completely bare from any fur.  
  
'Oy, this will certainly change everything.'  
  
Mustering up as much energy as she could, Devi started punching at the glass of the capsule. It took her three tries just to crack it, then on the fifth punch, the glass shattered and the liquid goo poured out from the capsule. Carefully, Devi stepped out of the capsule, and then started to pull out the small needles out of her skin. Devi felt the adrenaline wear off as she stepped away and avoiding any pieces of glass the best she could. Her energy was weak and she felt nauseous. She knew this feeling all too well; it was always like this after she underwent an altering treatment of some sort. She'd feel like this for a few days as her body discarded the DNA waste, thanks to a special medicine that was also one of the needles that made that capable.  
  
She fell to her knees and rolled to her back, her black hair twisted around her, covering her body at certain parts and she was glad this happened because Jason came in at that point.  
  
"Devi," he asked as he walked across the glass-strewed floor and knelt beside her. Devi made an attempt to move her head to face Jason, but urged her not to. "You are going to need your strength."  
  
She heard him set something down nearby, open it and shuffle through it a moment. Then she felt something soft and dry against her wet hair and fur. Then Devi heard Jason shuffle through whatever he set nearby again. When the shuffling stopped, Jason reached for her arm and went in search for a vein through her short fur.  
  
"I'm going to inject you with a serum that will help you in energizing you and prevent you from being sick for about forty-five minutes. You have this time on to get ready and escape. Just as a word of warning, once they realized what you've done, they're going to set off the alarm and set the hounds out in search for you. You must be careful if you wish to get out of here alive, Devi."  
  
Devi felt a small prick as he talked and she felt better by the time he was done explaining. Whatever the serum was that he just injected into her, it coursed through her veins like a wildfire. She felt warm and she moved around a bit, grabbing what is apparently a soft towel and held it close to her as she sat up. Jason stood and walked away with his back turned to Devi. She wasn't sure if he was being a gentleman and allowing her privacy or if he was ashamed of the fact that he as helping her escape.  
  
Stretching as she stood, Devi looked at what he set down near her. It was a small black bag. She reached in and pulled out her tight-fitting outfit and trench coat, her face was in awe.  
  
"Jason?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Why...why are you helping me?" Devi looked at his back as she toweled herself off, trying get as much moisture out of her fur before she put her outfit on.  
  
Jason shifted on his feet and bit his lip, even though Devi didn't see it. He wasn't quite sure as to why he is doing this. It just felt right. Before he was completely altered, Jason always wanted to see what it was like outside these facility walls. Unfortunately he was never given the opportunity. Hearing how someone that is like him escaped, but then captured again, made him wonder even more about what it was like outside, since someone else did so. Ever since Devi came to the facility, Jason's head has been buzzing with a wide variety of questions about the planet. What are the people like? The towns? Does Vash the Stampede still live, or is he only a legend that people think is real and the scientists took the opportunity to make someone stronger than ever by means of genetic experiments? Does Devi even have any friends? And do they know her secret?  
  
It took him a moment before he answered. "I'm not sure, really," he started. "It just feels...right. To give someone something that I'll probably never get: Freedom."  
  
Devi stopped. During the moment of silence that Jason was thinking of his answer, Devi had already slipped into her outfit, making sure her tail was completely through too. It seemed to fit a tad bit looser than before. At the moment, she was working on drying some of her hair before she pulls it back. It was a strange response to hear. Jason was giving her freedom.  
  
"You better go," Jason said, looking over his shoulder quickly to see Devi pulling on her black trench coat and noticing something different about it. "Yes, I added the hood to it. I figured it would be of help for when you reach town or something."  
  
Devi slipped her feet into her boots. She pulled her hair up and tried her best to make sure it didn't drag too much and eventually got it into a loop with a tail, a good hairstyle for an important reason. If it dragged, there was a chance that it would snag and all would be lost. Devi then searched the bag and found her gun, holster and belt, and her knives. She put these on at the appropriate places.  
  
"So," Devi said as she made one last check that she had everything with her. "How do you propose that I escape from here?"  
  
Jason pointed to the ceiling vent towards a corner. "Take that vent and go straight. It'll take you out of the building easily. Be careful though the grounds have motion detectors everywhere, that's where you'll most likely be spotted."  
  
Devi nodded. "Alright." She turned to face the vent. "Oh and Jason."  
  
Jason was about to turn around to walk away when he stopped. "Yeah?"  
  
She gave a soft smile. "Thank you. And I have a feeling that we'll be seeing each other sometime in the future."  
  
Before Jason could respond, Devi jumped up and moved the vent up. She jumped again to move it to one of the sides and she gripped the edge of the vent. Then she acrobatically shimmied up and inside the vent and disappeared.  
  
Jason smiled slightly at the vent. He had a strange feeling that she was actually right.  
  
*****  
  
It was Wolfwood's turn on driving and they were actually pretty close to December now. They've been taking turns in driving constantly and they now have about half's a days worth driving now. They've managed to keep this up for three days straight. All of them were tired, yet alert. The suns were down and they were now speeding through the night, spraying sand in their wake.  
  
"Remember Wolfwood," Vash reminded him for the fifth time that he was driving. "She's in the outskirts."  
  
"Yes Vash! I know! You told me that five times now!!"  
  
"I was just making sure you knew!"  
  
*****  
  
Devi was crawling through the vents easily. Apparently she has lost some weight, how she'll never know considering she's already fairly thin to begin with.  
  
'This is probably the easy part,' She thought as she looked ahead and saw the vent where it ended and lead to the outside. To freedom. The one thing she had and lost, and she's about to get it again.  
  
Reaching the vent, Devi removed the vent and moved it to the side. She peered outside. It was rather dark, making it a bit easier to sneak away. It has probably been about a half hour since Jason injected the serum in her system, giving her plenty of time to escape, even though it was only fifteen minutes.  
  
"Well," Devi whispered to herself. "Here goes nothing."  
  
She gracefully leapt from the vent and crouched low on the ground, hand just barely an inch from the sand floor. Looking to the left and right, she examined her surroundings. A chain-linked fence wrapped its way around the building apparently with only a few tall posts for spotlights. At the top of the fence, a barbwire coiled its way like a frozen thin snake with many deadly fangs.  
  
'I better tread lightly, I don't know when they'll realize that I'm gone and I don't have the time to find out.'  
  
*****  
  
A young associate walked down the hallway toward the one room that was sealed off for sometime. He was ordered to come down here because the doctor had a bad feeling something just might have happened. Unfortunately, the doctor kept getting this feeling once a month. What ever happened with this one before, he was obviously paranoid that it'll happen again. But every time he's been sent here to check on this experiment, nothing really happened to it and there was no sign of change.  
  
'Yup,' the associate thought. 'He's definitely paranoid.'  
  
Reaching the room, he punched in the code to open it and it hissed silently. He entered the room, expecting everything to be the same, but they weren't. Glass and a sticky liquid was everywhere. Small injection tubes with needles attached to them hung loosely, the experiment that they once pierced was gone. After a quick examination of the room, the associate turned and ran back to the doctor to report this.  
  
'He maybe paranoid, but this time he was right this time around.'  
  
*****  
  
Devi was just about halfway when she heard the alarms go off. The spotlights on the tall poles turned on instantly, searching for her. Behind her she heard a soft hiss of something opening, and then the sound of dogs and by the pitch, they were big dogs.  
  
'Damn,' She thought as she made a mad dash for the fence. The dogs behind her bounding for her, with big white teeth and powerful muscled legs that helped them run for her. Devi turned and ran for the corner, hoping that she can use the momentum of her running to bounce between the joined fences and leap over the barbwire with little problem.  
  
Gathering as much energy as possible, Devi ran even faster and leapt just a few feet before reaching the fences. She did just as she was hoping would happen, Devi bounced between the joined fences and over the barbwire, just barely missing their deadly metal teeth. Rolling as soon as she meet with the ground, Devi got back up and ran with all her heart into the desert.  
  
She didn't stop until the spotlights would no longer be able to find her, which made her run for like five to ten minutes straight. Out of breath and starting to feel queasy again, Devi found a large rock formation and sat against the cool rock. The serum has started to wear off and she was back to being queasy and heading towards weak again. Devi suddenly felt extremely warm and she carefully peeled off her trench coat and set it on her lap. The queasiness continued and they went from bad to worse.  
  
Moving quickly, Devi got up and ran a few steps before falling down. Once she fell, Devi coughed and, sure enough, she puked. Fortunately for her, it was dark so she couldn't see the green-orange substance that once was her DNA and stomach acid. She feebly got to her hands and knees before she heaved once more. Devi then stayed there, afraid to move, and breathing very heavily. Devi could feel her fur be slightly damp from sweat.  
  
Hoping that she was done heaving for the time being, Devi weakly stood, took a few steps back to where she was sitting and fell face forward. She was lucky that her head hit the semi-soft cushion of her crumpled up trench coat. All she saw after that, was darkness.  
  
*****  
  
Wolfwood continued to drive, Vash telling him to turn slightly to the left towards a huge rock formation in the distance. Something seemed to be telling him that she was there.  
  
After a few more minutes of driving, Wolfwood stopped near the rock formation. All four of them climbed out of the vehicle.  
  
"Devi," Vash called out. Shortly after Vash's shout, they heard a small noise towards the right of them at a diagonally. Moving slowly, the group moved in that direction.  
  
Vash was the first one to spot her, laying on the ground. "Devi!"  
  
The other three followed and soon found her too, kneeling next to Vash.  
  
"She's unconscious," Vash said. "And she's also different. Let's get her to the vehicle and get to a town, quick."  
  
Together, they got Devi to the vehicle. Vash went back temporarily for her trench coat and draped it on her. Vash couldn't see that well in the night, but could feel Devi's face was softer, but it was hair that was on her face.  
  
Meryl volunteered this time to drive, as Vash climbed in the backseat to keep and eye on Devi, who's been placed as comfortable as they could get her in the very back. She didn't seem to be complaining at all really, even though she is unconscious.  
  
'Oh, Devi,' Vash thought. 'What happened to you where ever you were?' 


End file.
